4.QO FIN-BACKED MYSTlCETE. 



lie can beat it all in shatters at a blow." The 

 desire of gain however 'is a sufficient temptation 

 to those who undertake this fishery, and the pro- 

 fits seldom tail to recompence their labours. 



Though the chief residence of this and most 

 other Whales is in the polar regions, yet they 

 sometimes stray into more temperate latitudes, 

 and are occasionally seen in very different parts 

 of the ocean from those in which they generally 

 reside. 



The Whale is one of those animals which were 

 once considered as roval dishes ; and we are inform- 



*/ 



ed that in ancient times, whenever one happened 

 to be thrown on the British coast, the King and 

 Queen divided the spoil ; the King asserting his 

 right to the head, and her Majesty to the tail *. 



FIN-BACKED MYSTlCETE. 



Balaena Physalus. B. Jistula duplici in media capite, dorso ex- 

 tremopinua adiposa. Lin. Syst. Nat. p. 106. 



Mysticete w4th double spiracle on the head, and a fatty fin at 

 the lower part of the back . 



Balaena tripinnis ventre laevi. Biis. Regn. Anlm. p. 352. n. 5. 



Physalus bellua, s. Physeter. Gesn. Ayuat. p. 8jji. 



Fiunfisch. Mart.&pitsb.p, 125. t. 2. 



THIS species is of a much more slender form 

 than the preceding, which it equals in length: 

 the head is rather narrow, the mouth very wide, 



* Blackst. Comm. i. c. 4. Brit. Zool. &c. 



