HITORY OF THE WHALE. 81 



towards the tail, and slight.y towards the head. The head 

 is remarkably large, as is the case with the other genera, 

 forming nearly one-third of the whole bulk. The under 

 part, the outline of which is given by the jaw-bone, is flat, 

 and measures from sixteen to twenty feet in length, and 

 from ten to twelve in breadth. The lips, of corresponding 

 dimensions, go to enclose the cavity of the mouth in a very 

 striking way. The upper jaw, including the crown-bone, 

 is bent down at its edges, like a boat upside down, so as to 

 shut in the front and upper parts of the cavity of the mouth, 

 When the mouth is open, it presents a cavity as large as a 

 room, and capable of containing a ship's jolly-boat full of 

 men, being fifteen or sixteen feet long, ten or twelve high, 

 and six or eight wide. 



The mysticetus has no dorsal fin. The two pectorals 

 are placed about two feet behind the angle of the mouth, 

 and are about nine feet long and five broad. They cannot 

 be raised above the horizontal position ; and hence the 

 account given by some naturalists that by them the whale 

 supports its young on its back, must be erroneous. The 

 tail is horizontal ; its form is flat and semilunar, indented in 

 the middle ; the two lobes are somewhat pointed, and 

 turned a little backwards. 



The eyes, which, according to Sir Charles Giesecki and 

 Mr. Scorseby, are not much larger than those of an ox, and 

 with a white iris, are situated in the sides of the head, 

 about a foot obliquely above and behind the angle of the 

 mouth. The sense of seeing is acute in the water, when 

 clear ; not so, however, in air. On the most elevated part 

 of the head, about sixteen feet from the anterior extremity 

 of the jaw, are situated the blow holes, consisting of two 

 longitudinal apertures, very similar to the holes in the body 

 of a violin, from eight to twelve inches in length. 



The mouth, in place of teeth, contains two extensive 

 rows of baleen, commonly called whalebone, suspended 



