THE WHALES. 39 



I at once purchased a photograph of the jaw, and 

 had it engraved for my "Illustrated Natural History/' 

 published by Messrs. Routledge and Sons, by whose 

 kindness the illustration is permitted to appear in the 

 present work. 



In keeping this illustration in his mind, the reader 

 may easily comprehend the manner in which the 

 Greenland Whale obtains its food. The Northern seas 

 absolutely swarm with the clio, and other small 

 marine beings. The whale, when it wishes to feed, 



SKULL OF GREENLAND WHALE. 



opens its mouth, and drives through the sea at its best 

 speed. As it passes along, the water through which it 

 rushes is enabled to escape between the narrow inter- 

 stices of the baleen plates, while the inhabitants of 

 the water are intercepted as if by the gratings of a 

 sieve. When the whale has obtained a fair mouthful, 

 it expels the rest of the water from its mouth, swallows 

 the enclosed prey, and then sets off again for another 

 mouthful. 



