246 A HISTORY OF 



These spout-holes or nostrils, in all the cetaceous tribe, have oeen 

 already described ; in this whale there are two, one on each side the 

 head before the eyes, and crooked, somewhat like the holes on the 

 belly of a violin. From these holes this animal blows the water very 

 fiercely, and with such a noise that it roars like a hollow wind, and 

 may be heard at three miles distance. When wounded it then blowj 

 more fiercely than ever, so that it sounds like the roaring of the sea 

 in a great storm. 



We have already observed, that the substance called whalebone, is 

 taken from the upper jaw of the animal, and is very different from the 

 real bones of the whale. The real bones are hard, like those of great 

 land animals, are very porous, and filled with marrow. Two great 

 strong bones sustain the under lip, lying against eacn other in the 

 shape of a half-moon : some of these are twenty feet long ; they are 

 seen in several gardens set up against each other, and are usually 

 mistaken for the ribs of this animal. 



Such is the general conformation and figure of this great inhabit- 

 ant of the deep, the precise anatomy of which has not been yet ascer- 

 tained. In those places where they are caught in greatest abundance, 

 the sailors are not very curious as to the structure of the viscera ; and 

 few anatomists care to undertake a task, where the operator, instead 

 of separating with a lancet, must cut his way with an ax. It is as yet 

 doubted, therefore, whether the male, that in most points internally 

 resembles a quadruped, may not have one great bowel fitted entirely 

 for the reception of air, to supply it, when constrained to keep longer 

 than usual at the bottom. The sailors universally affirm that it has ; 

 and philosophers have nothing but the analogy of its parts to oppose to 

 their general assertions. 



As these animals resemble quadrupeds in conformation, so they 

 bear a strong resemblance in some of their appetites and manners. 

 The female joins with the male, as it is asserted, more humano, and 

 once in two years feels the accesses of desire. 



Their fidelity to each other exceeds whatever we are told of even 

 the constancy of birds. Some fishers, as Anderson informs us, 

 having struck one of two whales, a male and a female, that were in 

 company together, the wounded fish made a long and a terrible resist- 

 ance : it struck down a boat with three men in it, with a single blov 

 of the tail, by which all went to the bottom. The other still attended 

 its companion, and lent it every assistance; till, at last, the fish that 

 was struck, sunk under the number of its wounds ; while its faithful 

 associate, disdaining to survive the loss, with great bellowing, stretcli- 

 ed itself upon the dead fish, and shared its fate. 



The whale goes with young nine or ten months, and is then fatter 

 than usual, particularly when near the time of bringing forth. It is 

 said that the embryo, when first perceptible, is about seventeen inches 

 *ong, and white; but the cub, when excluded, is black, and about 

 ten feet long. She generally produces one young one, and never 

 above two. When she suckles her young, she throws herself on one 

 side on the surface of the sea, and the young one attaches itself to 

 the teat. The breasts are two, generally hid within the belly ; but 

 she can produce them at pleasure, so as to stand forward a foot and a 

 half, or two feet ; and the teats are like those of a cow. In some the 



