156 THE SPERMACETI WHALE. 



surgeon, and was, we presume, professionally em- 

 ployed, had no thought of publication, and therefore 

 overlooked many circumstances which would other- 

 wise have engaged his attention. But notwith- 

 standing this, he has judged wisely, we conceive, in 

 complying with the request of his friends to furnish 

 such information as he had ; and we cannot but 

 proffer him our best thanks, and warmly recommend 

 his little work to all who are curious in natural his- 

 tory. It will appear in the sequel that he supplies 

 by far the most copious and satisfactory information 

 on the subject. 



We take our description very much from that 

 afforded by Cuvier ( Oss. Foss. v. 339). Externally, 

 according to the most authentic accounts, it is one 

 of the largest Cetacea, attaining the length of seventy 

 and eighty feet ; its head is very large in all dimen- 

 sions, and its length does not appear to have been 

 much exaggerated when stated to be about a third 

 of the whole body ; the snout is very obtuse, and 

 apparently truncated ; the lower jaw, very narrow, 

 is received between the upper lips as in a furrow, the 

 teeth entering, when the mouth is shut, into cavities 

 on the edge of the palate. The blow-hole, twelve 

 inches long, in form of an /, is on the anterior ex- 

 tremity of the head, in the centre of a round protu- 

 berance, which is formed of thick fibres, which act as 

 a sphincter. Th e pectorals are small and obtuse ; th ere 

 is a small dorsal protuberance only, far down the 

 back ; and sometimes two or three smaller ones ; 

 the tail is very large The colour, above, is a blackish 



