206 THE BELUGA, OR WHITE WHALE. 



it is to make these parts the ground-work of classifi 

 cation. Anderson states that the Beluga has no 

 teeth in the upper jaw, and that this is the univer- 

 sal opinion of the Greenland fishers (ii. 150), whilst 



there are eight on each side in the lower (o"o y. 



9 9 

 Dr. Neil gives the teeth -rrr, i. e. nine on each side 



in upper, and six on each side in lower ; and Crantz 



8 9 



. Cuvier, however, states them f f ; in all thirty- 

 six ; and this is probably another proof of his great 

 accuracy. In the ahove enumeration, there is the 

 authority of Neil, and we may add, of Crantz, for 

 nine, nine, in the upper; and Fabricius expressly 

 states that he had counted nine, nine, in the lower ; 

 which, he adds, were like the single molares of 

 quadrupeds. If, however, we are so slow in arriving 

 at certainty in the dental apparatus of the Beluga, 

 when are we, by this means, to determine species 

 in many of the other Cetacea ? 



The spiracle is situated in the vertex, and has its 

 horns turned backwards ; the eye is scarcely larger 

 than in man, the iris is blue ; Dr. Barclay con- 

 firms the statement of Cuvier, that in this and the 

 neighbouring species there is nothing like a true 

 olfactory nerve ; there is no external ear, and no 

 appearance even of a meatus auditorius ; the mouth 

 is small in proportion to the size of the animal. As 

 the apparatus of the windpipe is different in dif- 

 ferent genera, we shall here refer the reader to 

 Pallas' interesting description of the valve of the 



