GROUP II. 



THE HERBIVOROUS CETACEA. 



Of the fablecl nymphs, 'tis foolishly declared 



They chase the warrior shark, the cumbrous whale. 



And guard the mermaid in her briny vale. 



OUR declining space prevents us from saying 

 more on the classification of this small and in- 

 teresting group than what has already appeared in 

 the Introduction. Though individuals belonging 

 to it exist in large herds in many quarters of the 

 globe, yet, till within a few years, not one had 

 been seen in the civilized world, nor had .any cor- 

 rect description or delineation been supplied. And 

 yet the most intense interest was experienced re- 

 garding the family, not only by the man of 

 science, but by the public at large. There can 

 be no doubt that in many instances they formed the 

 type of those ideal objects of ancient poetry, the 

 tritons, half men and half fish, who had power, 

 forsooth, . to calm the stormy surge, and proba- 

 bly, too, of the syrens, those sea nymphs whose 



