ILLUSTRATIONS 



OF THE 



NATURAL HISTORY 



OF THE 



TUSCAN'S VOYAGE. 



ZOOLOGY. 



CHAPTER I. 

 GENERAL, REMARKS ON WHALES. 



Their title to rank with quadrupeds Skeleton Pseudo-fins Condition 

 of the vital organs and senses Provisional uses of the fat or 

 blubber Animal heat Locomotive organs Peculiarities in respi- 

 ration Absence of voice Nature of the spout Points of distinction 

 between whales and land mammals Whales divided into three 

 natural tribes or families. 



THE Cetaceans, or Whale-tribe, class in zoology with 

 animals of the highest order ; namely, the mammiferous, 

 or those that produce their young alive, and nourish 

 them with milk from their mammae or teats; and 

 notwithstanding the resemblance to fish which obtains 

 in their external configuration, there is nothing in their 

 more essential anatomical structure that denies their 

 title to rank with mammiferous animals in general. 



Their skeleton is but a modification of that of quad- 

 rupeds : the vertebrae of the neck are as complete in 

 number as in the latter animals ; though they are but 

 small or rudimental, and for the most part consolidated 



VOL. II. L 



