686 THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 



perform the usual function of grinding. The skin is naked, ex- 

 cept a few bristles about the jaws, and beneath it is a thick coat 

 of fat or blubber, preserving the temperature of the body and 

 reducing its specific gravity; this fat affords the oil for which 

 whales are chiefly pursued. Formerly, naturalists regarded the 

 blubber as subcutaneous, but it is now a settled fact that it is a 

 part of the true skin, the fibres forming an open net-work in 

 which the fat is held. 



Though all whales are carnivorous, the stomach is divided into 

 from three to six different compartments, but for what reason is 

 not understood. Until the time of Linneus whales were regarded 

 as fishes, but they are no longer thus classed. They are a true 

 mammal, warm-blooded, air-breathing, bring forth their young 

 (usually one) alive, and suckle them for a considerable time by 

 means of two abdominal mammae. Though a whale's mouth is 

 quite large enough to contain a ship's long-boat, yet the opening 

 into the gullet is not larger than a man's fist. It feeds upon jelly 

 fish and small swimming mollusks, and rarely, if ever, swallows 

 anything larger than a herring. 



The period of gestation is variously placed at from eight to 

 eighteen months ; at birth the young measures from ten to four- 

 teen feet in length, and is very tenderly cared for by the mother 

 for one year. While nursing they roll from side to side, so as to 

 give each a chance of breathing. The mother has great affection 

 for her young, and will defend it as long as life lasts. 



There are a great many species of whales, in which the size 

 varies from twelve to one hundred feet in length, and with the 

 single exception of being mammals, they vary as greatly in habits. 

 The ones most sought within the Polar circle are either the " right 

 whale " or the " white whale :" but there is the bow-head, sul- 

 phur-bottoms, spermaceti, and others. All the large ones of 

 that region are called " balleeners," as their mouths are furnished 

 with the balleen, or whalebone, of commerce. The oil of an 

 average whale is worth about $2,300, while the value of the 

 bone is about $3,000. 



The right whale is often fifty or sixty feet long, but the white 



