Behemoths of the Ocean 



When we reach Whales we leave lower animals 

 behind us ; we step upon the uppermost rungs of 

 the Ladder of Life ; we are in the society of 

 Mammals. 



At the bottom of that ladder we found micro- 

 scopic beings, specks of living jelly, so minute 

 as to be invisible, so primitive as to be without 

 development, without separate organs. At the 

 top of that ladder stands Man ; far more th.in 

 animal, by virtue of his mental and spiritual 

 being ; and yet an animal, by virtue of his 

 bodily development. 



The physical part of a man marks him as a 

 Mammal. To Mammals belong all Quadrupeds ; 

 but not Birds, not Reptiles, not Fishes. 



A whale is not a fish. He is a Mammal. 

 He is warm-blooded. He breathes air through 

 lungs. He — or rather, she — feeds the young of 

 the race, as they are fed by quadrupeds and 

 human beings on land. A whale -mother will 

 fight to the death in defence of her litde one. 



Nor is the whale the only Mammal of ocean- 

 waters. To this highest division of backboned 

 creatures belong also the Porpoise, a near relative 

 of the Whale ; and the fierce Walrus, met often 

 by Arctic travellers ; and the gentle Seal, with 

 its pathetic human eyes, and its warm soft coat, 



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