130 WHALES. WHALEBONE. 



46. WHALES, MalcEna, have a head as large as that of the 

 Cachalot, though not so much swelled out in front ; but their jaws 

 are without teeth, and the upper one which is keel-shaped, is fur- 

 nished with whalebone. This name is given to great horny plates 

 of fibrous texture, which are very elastic and fringed at their 

 edges, that are placed transversely like the teeth of a comb, 

 strongly locked one into the other and attached to the jaw at their 

 base, so as to extend from each side of the palate, (Plate 6 fig. 8.) 

 forming a sort of great sieve through which, the water, taken 

 into the immense mouth of the animal, partly escapes, without 

 however carrying with it the small animals it contains, 



47. From the size of Whales, we should be led to believe that 

 these animals would devour the largest fishes, but it is altogether 

 otherwise ; the absence of teeth, the species of armature of their 

 mouth and the weakness of the muscles of their jaws permit them 

 to seize only small marine animals; their ordinary food consists 

 of small moliusca, of Crustacea a few lines in length, and of 

 zoophytes whose bodies are soft as jelly, and, as the number of 

 these beings is immense, they have only to open the mouth to 

 swallow them by millions. They are very voracious and eat 

 almost continually ; the water which enters their enormous mouth 

 every time it is opened, is ejected through the nares, forming a jet 

 above the head that falls in a sort of fine shower. Whales swim 

 with great rapidity ; and having no means of defence and being 

 often embarrassed by the enormous mass of their body, they are 

 incapable of defending themselves successfully against agile and 

 robust enemies, and a consciousness of their weakness renders 

 them fearful and timid ; but they nevertheless become occasion- 

 ally furious, and display all their strength in defending themselves, 

 or in escaping from their pursuers ; when they strike the water 

 with their tail, they produce a commotion equal to that from a 

 cannon ball 



48. Several species of Whales are known. That which is 

 most sought by whalers is the Common Whale, Ral&na i\hjste- 

 cetiis, ( t>!ate 6, fig. 7,) which is recognised by its having no 

 dorsal fin ; it does not often exceed seventy feet in length, yet it 

 is very large, and the mass of the body is enormous. It has been 

 estimated J;hat a whale of only seventy feet in length, weighs 

 about seventy tons, equal to the weight of three hundred fat oxen. 



46. How do Whales differ from Cachalots ? What is Whale bone? Of 

 what use is it to the Whnle ? 



47 What is the ordinary food of Whales ? What are the habits of 

 Whales"' 



48. How is the Common While recognised ? What is the size of the 

 head ? 



