THE "SPOUTING* OF WHALES. 257 



which we may notice those of Bennett, Von Baer, Sars and Burmeister, 

 are directly opposed to the statement that water is thus ejected ; and 

 there can now be no doubt that the appearance which has given rise 

 to the idea is caused by the moisture with which the expelled breath 

 is supercharged, which condenses at once in the cold outer air, and 

 forms a cloud or column of white vapour. It is possible indeed that 

 if the animal begins to * blow ' before its head is actually at the surface, 

 the force of the rushing air may drive up some little spray along with 

 it, but this is quite different from the notion that water is really 

 expelled from the nasal passages. We may add that on the only 

 occasion when we ourselves witnessed the ' spouting ' of a large whale 

 we were much struck with its resemblance to the column of white 

 spray which is dashed up by the ricochetting ball fired from one of 

 the great guns of a man-of-war." 

 



The simile is admirable, and nothing could better describe 

 the appearance of a whale's " spout " ; but, in the previous 

 portion of the passage (except with reference to the sperm 

 whale, the nostrils of which are not on the top of the head), 

 I think sufficient importance is not conceded to the volume 

 of water propelled into the air by the outrush of breath 

 from the submerged blow-hole. I do not know how many 

 cubic feet of air the lungs of a great whale are capable of 

 containing, but the quantity is sufficient to force up to a 

 height of several feet the water above the valve when the 

 latter is opened, not only in " some little spray," but for some 

 distance in a good solid jet enough, in fact, to give the 

 appearance of its actually issuing from the blow- hole, and 

 to account for the erroneous belief of sailors that it does so. 

 It must be remembered that the escape of air is not by a 

 prolonged wheeze, but by a sudden blast, and thus when 

 the spiracle is opened just beneath the surface, an instant 

 before it is uncovered to take in a fresh supply of air, the 

 water above its orifice is thrown up as by a slight sub- 

 aqueous explosion, or as by the momentary opening under 

 water of the safety-valve of a steam boiler. Some idea of 

 the force and volume of the blast of air from the lungs of 



VOL. III. II. s 



