180 LEAVES FROM THE 



it has, now, a short coat of minute hair, as fine as floss 

 silk, or more like the down upon the lip of a youth, or of 

 a very young man. When it was at the bottom of the 

 water I thought the animal looked more blue, or some- 

 what lighter, and the spots denoting the presence of the 

 muco-sebaceous pores were very conspicuous. 



The amphibious character of the animal's life induces 

 us to look for some machinery which enables it to 

 remain below the surface of the water. The venous 

 reservoirs of the seals, and the arterial plexiform recepta- 

 cles of the whales, will instantly occur to the physiolo- 

 gist. The latter are most complex and ample, as might 

 be expected of organs fitted to secure a supply of aerated 

 blood to the brain, derived from a heart that sends out 

 some ten or fifteen gallons of blood at every stroke, 

 through a tube of a foot in diameter, with immense ve- 

 locity. One hour and ten minutes ordinarily elapse from 

 the time of a whale's descent below the surface to that of 

 his rising again to breathe, and Leviathan has been kno^vn 

 to remain under for an hour and twenty minutes. It 

 has been calculated that about a seventh of his time is 

 consumed in respiration. The seals in their natural state 

 have been known to remain under water for periods 

 varying from a quarter of an hour to five-and-twenty 

 minutes : but it has been observed that a seal in con- 

 finement has remained asleep with its head under water 

 for an hour at a time. The period during which a hip- 

 popotamus can remain submerged does not appear to 

 have been accurately defined ; but as the animal walks 

 leisurely about at the bottom of a river, from five to ten 

 minutes may probably be spent by it, when disposed to 

 remain so long without coming up.* 



* It is probably reserved for Professor Owen to detect and 

 describe the natural apparatus wliicli enabUs the hij)popotamus to 

 remain under water ; but we hope it will be a long time before he 

 will have it in his power to solve the problem. 



