CETACEANS. 1G1 



to which the term " case" is more immediately applied, 

 is situated beneath,, and to the right of, the spouting 

 canal, and corresponds to nearly the entire length of 

 that tube. It is filled with a very delicate web of 

 cellular tissue, containing, in large cells, a limpid and 

 oily fluid, which is liberated by the slightest force. 

 The quantity of fluid (which is chiefly spermaceti) con- 

 tained in this singular receptacle is often very con- 

 siderable : fourteen barrels, or nearly five hundred 

 gallons, have been obtained from the case of one 

 whale. A Cachalot, taken by the Tuscan, in 1835, pro- 

 duced upwards of twelve barrels, or three hundred and 

 seventy-eight gallons, of fluid from the same reservoir. 

 The walls of the case are chiefly formed by a white, 

 spongy, and fibrous structure, loaded with a slimy 

 fluid; and which forms, also, a layer of separation 

 between this receptacle and the bulk of fat, or junk, on 

 which it rests. 



So vast an accumulation of relatively light structures 

 in the head of the Cachalot, is obviously intended to 

 render this part of the animal peculiarly buoyant to 

 ensure its correct position in swimming to facilitate 

 the elevation of the spiracle above the surface of the sea 

 and to counteract the weight of the bony and other 

 ponderous textures of the head objects which, in the 

 Greenland Whale, are sufficiently attained by similar 

 accumulations of fat in the lips and tongue, and by the 

 more elevated situation of the spout-holes. 



The bones of the head approach nearly, in form, to 

 those of the Dolphin and Porpoise families : the cranium 

 is equally round as in those cetaceans, and proportion- 

 ately well provided with brain. The forehead is ele- 

 vated ; and presents a deep crescentic excavation, which 

 gives the entire cranium a form, not unaptly compared 



VOL. II. M 



