THE WHALEBONE W1IM 





whales each ••Mow" in a double Btream, which is dire< 

 backward toward the tail. 



Whales are rarely over tit'' the sperm-whale 



has been known to reach a little over twenty-three metres 



feet) in length, but Pr •:'• ssor Flower questions whether 



the Bperm-whale frequently, it* ever, wheo measured iii a 



straight line, exceeds a length of sixty feet. The la: . 



Fio. 3ft!.— Fin-whale. From LUtkeu's Z 



of all whales, as of all existing animals, is the fin-back 

 v, 302) "i- rorqual (i ptera lumps), which smiK'- 



times measures thirty-four metres in length. The smallest 

 Cetacea are the porpoises. 



In the whalebone whales, tin- teeth, present in the em- 

 bryo, become reabs the gums before birth ami 



I KL — Outline of the < showing how the blubber is removed: b, the 



situation "f the "rase;" . . i !,•■ junk ; ./. the bunch of i lie neck : h, the hump; 

 i. the ridge; fc, the small; /, the tail or dukes; between the oblique dotted 

 lines are the spiral strips or blanket 



are replaced by plates of whalebone, three hundred of which 

 may l>e present on each side of the mouth. The inner 

 edges of these plates have projecting fibres, forming a rude 

 strainer: these whale- feed on small pelagic jelly-fish, mol- 

 lusks, and Crustacea, by taking in a mouthful of water, and 

 then pressing the tongue against the roof of the mouth, 

 expelling the water through the openings between the 



