CETACEOUS FISHES. 



615 



separated from its food, it shuts the mouth, 

 closes the valve of the stomach, opens the 

 sphincter that kept the nostril closed, and then 

 breathing strongly from the lungs, pushes the 

 water out by the effort, as we see it rise by 

 the pressure of air in a fire-engine. 



The senses of these animals seem also su- 

 perior to those of other fishes. The eyes of 

 other fishes, we have observed, are covered 

 only with that transparent skin that covers 

 the rest of the head ; but in all the cetaceous 

 kinds, it is covered by eye-lids, as in man. 

 This, no doubt, keeps that organ in a more 

 perfect state, by giving it intervals of relaxa- 

 tion, in which all vision is suspended. The 

 other fishes, that are for ever staring, must 

 see, if for no other reason, more feebly, as 

 their organs of sight are always exerted. 



As for hearing, these also are furnished 

 with the internal instruments of the ear, al- 

 though the external orifice no where appears. 

 It is most probable that this orifice may open 

 by some canal, resembling the Eustachian 

 tube, into the mouth; but this has not as yet 

 been discovered. 



Yet nature sure has not thus formed a com- 

 plete apparatus for hearing, and denied the 

 animal the use of it when formed. It is most 

 likely that all animals of the cetaceous kind 

 can hear, as they certainly utter sounds, and 

 bellow to each other. This vocal power 

 would be as needless to animals naturally 

 deaf, as glasses to a man that was blind. 



But it is in the circumstances in which they 

 continue their kind, that these animals show 

 an eminent superiority. Other fish deposit 

 their spawn, and leave the success to acci- 

 dent : these never produce above one young, 

 or two at the most ; and this the female 

 suckles entirely in the manner of quadrupeds, 

 her breasts being placed, as in the human 

 kind, above the navel. We have read many 

 fabulous accounts of the nursing of the de- 

 migods of antiquity, of their feeding on the 

 marrow of lions, and their being suckled by 

 wolves : one might imagine a still more he- 

 roic system of nutrition, if we supposed that 

 the young hero was suckled and grew strong 

 upon the breast-milk of a she-whale ! 



The whale or the grampus are terrible at 

 any time; but are fierce and desperate in the 

 defence of their young. In Wallers beauti- 

 ful poem of the Summer Islands, we have 



story, founded upon fact, which shows the 

 maternal tenderness of these animals for their 

 offspring. A whale and her cub had got into 

 an arm of the sea, where, by the desertion of 

 the tide, they were enclosed on every side. 

 The people from shore soon saw their situa- 

 tion, and drove down upon them in boats, 

 with such weapons as the urgent occasion 

 offered. The two animals were soon wound- 

 ed in several places, and the whole sea round 

 was tinctured with their blood. The whales 

 made several attempts to escape ; and at last 

 the old one, by its superior strength, forced 

 over the shallow into the depths of the ocean. 

 But though in safety herself, she could not bear 

 the danger that awaited her young one; she 

 therefore rushed in once more where the small- 

 er animal was imprisoned, and resolved, when 

 she could not protect, at least to share its dan- 

 ger. The story ends with poetical justice; for 

 the tide coming in, brought off both in safety 

 from their enemies, though not without sustain- 

 ing an infinite numberof wounds in every part. 



As to the rest, the distinctive marks of this 

 tribe are, that the number of their fins never 

 exceed three; namely, two pectoral fins, and 

 one back fin ; but in some sorts the last is 

 wanting. These fins differ very much from 

 those of other fishes, which are formed of 

 straight spines : the fins of the cetaceous tribe 

 are made up of bones and muscles ; and the 

 skeleton of one of their fins, very much re- 

 sembles the skeleton of a man's hand. Their 

 tails also are different from those of all other 

 fish : they are placed so as to lie fiat on the 

 surface of the water; while the other kinds 

 have them, as we every day see, upright or 

 edgeways. This flat position of the tail in 

 cetaceous animals, enables them to force 

 themselves suddenly to the surface of the 

 water to breath, which they are continually 

 constrained to do. 



Of these enormous animals, some are with- 

 out teeth, and properly called whales: others 

 have the teeth only in the lower jaw, and are 

 called, by the French, cachalots: the nar- 

 whal has teeth only in the upper JHW : the 

 dolphin's teeth, as well as those of the por- 

 poise and grampus, are both above and below. 

 These are the marks that serve to distinguish 

 the kinds of this enormous tribe from each 

 other; and these shall serve to guide us, in 

 giving their history, 



