108 CETACEAN GALLERY. 



being made for the Whale's peculiar mode of breathing) than what 

 always follows severe wounds of the respiratory organs of other 

 mammals. 



All the Cetacea prey upon living animal food of some kind. 

 One genus alone (Oreo) eats other warm-blooded animals, as 

 Seals, and even members of its own Order, large and small. 

 Many feed on fish, others on small floating crustaceans, pteropods, 

 and medusae, while the principal staple of the food of many is 

 constituted by the various species of cephalopods, especially Loligo 

 or Squid, and its allies, which must abound in some seas in vast 

 numbers, as they form almost the entire support of some of the 

 largest members of the Order. 



In size the Cetacea vary much, some of the smaller Dolphins 

 scarcely exceeding four feet in length, while others are the most 

 colossal of all animals. It is true that most statements of their 

 bulk found in general and even zoological literature are greatly 

 exaggerated ; but even when reduced to their actual dimensions 

 (which will be mentioned hereafter with the different species) some 

 of the existing Whales exceed in size that of any animal living 

 either at present or in former times of which we have any certain 

 evidence. 



With some exceptions the Cetacea are timid, inoffensive animals, 

 active in their movements, and very affectionate in their disposition 

 towards one another, especially the mother towards the young, of 

 which there is usually but one, and at most two, at a time. They 

 are generally gregarious, swimming in herds or " schools " (so 

 termed by the whalers), sometimes amounting to many hundreds 

 in number, though some species have hitherto only been met with 

 either singly or in pairs. 



The great commercial value of the oil, which all the Cetacea 

 yield, and the special products useful to man of certain species, as 

 whalebone, spermaceti, &c., cause them to be subject to an unre- 

 mitting persecution, which has of late greatly diminished their 

 numbers, and threatens some of the most interesting species with 

 total extermination. 



The existing members of the Order are separated into very 

 distinct Suborders, having important differences in their structural 

 characters, and with no transitional or intermediate forms. These 



