MAMMALIA. 165 



whalebone or transverse horny laminae, slender, serrated, and 

 attenuated at the edges ; orifices of the spiracles separated, 

 and placed towards the middle of the upper part of the head; 

 a dorsal fin in some species ; nodosities on the back in others. 



Sub-Gen. 1. BALJENA, Lacep.- No dorsal Jin. 



B, mysticelus, Lin. The Common Whale. Body thick ; tail short ; 

 no hunch on the back; upper jaw furnished with about 700 trans- 

 verse horny laminae. Length 80 to 100 feet. Inhabits the At- 

 lantic Ocean and Polar Seas. Shaw, ii. pi. 226. 

 This is the largest of animals. It is found from 50 to 100 feet long, and is said 

 often to have been taken greatly exceeding this length. The jaws being divested 

 of teeth, their place is supplied in the upper one by corneous laminae, the whalebone 

 of commerce, and on each side of this jaw there are three or four hundred of these 

 laminae faxed in the gum, and bristled at the point. The skin of the whale is black 

 and thick, and between this and the flesh is the fat or blubber, from which oil is 

 extracted. The spiracles are placed upon a rising on the top of the head, and they 

 can eject water from these to the height of from twenty to thirty feet. The tail of 

 the whale, terminated by a broad horizontal fin, is strong and flexible, and is the 

 principal agent in the motion of the animal, and its principal arm of defence. The 

 blows with its tail are dangerous to the boats and ships employed in its capture ; 

 and some idea may be formed of its force from considering that a large specimen is 

 equal in mass of body to nearly a hundred elephants. Regarding the growth or 

 age of the whale little is known ; but since their capture has become an object of 

 commerce, the species seems gradually diminishing in number as well as in size. 

 The female brings forth only one at a time, for which she shows great affection. 



B. glacialis, Klein. Lower jaw rounded., high, and broad ; tail elon- 

 gated ; no hunch on the back ; general colour gray ; a large oval 

 space under the head of a shining white, with some blackish spots 

 around and in the centre. Inhabits the North Atlantic Ocean. 



B. nodosa, Desm. A hunch on the back, situated near the tail ; 

 pectoral fins white, long, and distant from the snout. Mam. 527- 



B. gibbosa, Desm, Five or six hunches on the back, near the tail ; 

 whalebones white Mam. 528. 



Sub-Gen. 2. BAL^EJNOPTERA, Lacep. With a dorsal Jin. 



B. gibbar, Desm. (B. physalus, Lin.) Jaws pointed and equal; 

 whalebones short, bluish ; no folds under the throat or belly ; 

 body brown above, white below. Size of the common whale. 

 Arctic Seas. Mam. 528. 



B. boops, Lin. Neck elevated and rounded ; snout projecting, broad, 

 and a little rounded; longitudinal folds under the throat and 

 belly ; semispherical tuberosities before the spiracles ; dorsal fin 

 curved backwards. Fifty-four feet long. Inhabits Northern Seas. 

 Mam. 528. 



M. Cuvier suspects that the B. rostrata of Hunter, and the B. musculus of Lin- 

 naeus are only varieties of this species. 



