148 ZOOLOGY. 



right- Whale ; and which should convince us, that there 

 is a design in these fatty accumulations, far beyond that 

 of merely preserving an equal temperature.* 



The principal locomotive organ of whales is a broad 

 and powerful tail-fin, which expands horizontally, and 

 has a vertical action ; in contradistinction to the cor- 

 responding member in fish, which has a vertical 

 position, and a lateral motion. The anterior u fins," 

 or swimming-paws, are diminutive, and have a very 

 secondary use in progression ; probably little exceeding 

 that of preserving the equipoise of the body, or to 

 assist in the slighter deviations from a straight course. 

 In some herbivorous whales, these anterior members 

 are employed as legs, to assist their progress on the 

 bottom of shallow waters. The pseudo-fin on the back 

 of many species of whale, and which tends so much to 

 increase their resemblance to fish, has no motive power, 

 is merely composed of an indurated fatty structure, 

 and is in no way connected with either the bony or 

 muscular system. 



There is a peculiarity in the respiration of cetaceans 

 which alone distinguishes them from all inferior in- 

 habitants of the deep. It is true that fish, like terrestrial 

 animals, require a certain quantity of atmospheric air, 

 to support their existence by oxygenating their blood ; 

 and this they obtain from the proportion of air at all 

 times combined with the waters they inhabit, and which 

 they appropriate by means of gills, corresponding to 

 the lungs of mammals. But, since whales are not fish,f 



* From observations made upon living dolphins, (Delphinus delphis,) 

 and cachalots recently dead, I am inclined to believe that the natural 

 standard of animal heat in the whale-tribe exceeds that of most land 

 animals, and is probably never less than 100. 



t " A few years ago, there was a trial at NewYork, upon this subject : 



