Sbptembsr 1, 1898.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



195 



becoming acquainted with the migrations of the Greenland 

 right-whale, and the localities whore it is still likely to be 

 found, cannot do better than read a very interesting paper 

 on this subject recently communicated by my friend Mr. 

 T. Southwell to Xatural Scieno'. 



Having given so much space to the whalebone whales but 

 little remains for the toothed group. In this section, by 

 far the most striking exhibit is the model of a male sperm 

 whale, built upon the skeleton of a specimen stranded upon 

 the British coasts. In addition to its vast corporeal bulk, 

 as great if not greater than that of the Greenland right- 

 whale, the most remarkable peculiarities are the enormous 

 truncated head, at the front extremity of which is situated 

 the single blow-hole, the powerful teeth with which the 

 lower jaw is armed, the absence of a back fin, and the 

 peculiar tuberosities on the middle line of the back some- 

 what in advance of the flukes. On the skeletal side of the 

 specimen the visitor will be at once struck by the enormous 



that the muzzle is much less truncated and more or less 

 pointed, it seems impossible to traverse the general accuracy 

 of the testimony of whalers, so far at least as old bulls are 

 concerned. And if there be any departure from this type it 

 remains to be proved whether it is not due to age. Another 

 moot point connected with the sperm-whale is its power to 

 raise the lower jaw into the horizontal position without turn- 

 ing over on its back. The mucous membrane of the mouth 

 is of a glistening white colour, and it has long since been 

 asserted that, when on the feed deep down below the surface 

 of the sea, the creature is in the habit of dropping its lower 

 jaw and thus attracting prey within its glistening mouth. 

 Whatever may be the truth of the latter part of the story, 

 there seems no doubt that these whales are very generally 

 in the habit of dropping the long lower jaw into a nearly 

 vertical position, and some modern observers say that such 

 is from necessity its habitual practice. Such a position 

 would, however, be extremely inconvenient to reproduce 



View in the New Whale Gallery at the Natural History Museum, witli the skeleton an 

 Southern Right-Whale in the foreground. 



size of the cavity containing the fine oil, which, on removal, 

 solidifies into spermaceti ; and will also wonder at the use 

 of such a receptacle and its contents. Probably the oil is 

 merely the most convenient material for filling a cavity 

 rendered necessary by the peculiar conformation of the 

 animal's head. Those of my readers who are intimately 

 acquainted with the natural history of the sperm-whale 

 may perhaps notice that the muzzle is made somewhat 

 less truncated than is the case in many of the pictures of 

 the animal ; and naturalists are somewhat at issue with 

 regard to the exact conformation of this portion of its 

 body. All the old whalers are, however, in accord in repre- 

 senting the muzzle as broad and truncate as the front of a 

 railway engine ; and this peculiar and characteristic contour 

 is shown in a rude sketch of the creature made by a whaler 

 on one of its own teeth exhibited in a table-case in the 

 gallery. Although some modern observers have stated 



in a model, and therefore no fault can be found with the 

 restoration on the conventional lines. Here it may be 

 mentioned that although the sperm-whale has long been 

 known to feed on cuttles and squids, it has only recently 

 been ascertained that the species preyed upon were of 

 gigantic size. When harpooned these whales invariably 

 disgorge their last meal, and some of the matter thus 

 ejected has included portions of the arms of cuttle-fish 

 measuring fully six feet in cube. 



Near by the sperm-whale model stands a mounted 

 skeleton of the lesser sperm-whale (Coi/ia breviceps), a 

 species differing from its larger relative by the much 

 shorter jaws and proportionately smaller spermaceti 

 cavity. It is, in fact, in one sense, a sperm-whale in course 

 of evolution, not the least remarkable feature in its 

 anatomy being the marked dissimilarity in the size of the 

 two nasal apertures in the skull. It may be hoped that 



