CHAPTER XI 

 ORDER OF WHALES AND PORPOISES 



CETE 



TO some persons who are beyond the reach of large mu- 

 seums, or a complete work on natural history, the whales, 

 dolphins and porpoises seem very far away. To those who 

 live far from the sea, it might seem justifiable to omit them 

 from our list; but, inasmuch as all Americans travel, and 

 nearly every reader of this book is certain to observe some of 

 the great sea-mammals disporting in the waves cf their 

 ocean home, it is necessary to give them a brief notice. 



The salt waters of the world are inhabited by what is 

 really a great array of species of fish-like mammals, some of 

 which are the largest creatures that ever inhabited the earth. 

 It is a satisfaction to know that even the largest of the great 

 extinct lizards of North America did not equal the gigantic 

 bulk of a ninety-foot sulphur-bottom whale of our Pacific 

 coast. 



Although the Cetaceans are very fish-like in form, and 

 also in mode of life, they are warm-blooded mammals, which 

 breathe air instead of water, drown if submerged too long, 

 bring forth their young alive, and nourish them with milk 

 from their own bodies. For the protection of their flesh and 

 vital organs from the cold of Arctic waters they are com- 



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