WHALES. 221 



(subdenlatce,) or those having teeth only in the lower 

 jaw ; 4. Double-toothed whales, (ambidentatce ^) or those 

 that have teeth in both jaws. The common Greenland 

 or black whale is an instance of the toothless ; the 

 narwhal, or sea-unicorn, of those with teeth above ; 

 the spermaceti whale, of those with teeth below ; and 

 the porpesse, of those with teeth in both jaws. With 

 the exception of the porpesse, none of them can be 

 considered as constant inhabitants of the British seas ; 

 but they are all at times occasional visitants ; and 

 therefore, independently of their peculiar interest, they 

 fall within the proper limits of British Natural History. 



BALEEN, OR WHALEBONE WHALES. 



OF the common, or toothless whales, there are two 

 genera, balance, without fins on the back ; and bala- 

 noptercB, with fins on the back ; and there are usually 

 reckoned two species of each genus. 



The COMMON WHALE (bal&na mysticetus) is the most 

 renowned of all those giants of the deep ; and it is 

 still met with of from fifty to seventy feet in length, 

 and from thirty-four to forty- five in circumference. 

 But from the length of time that it has been fished for 

 in the polar seas, the great avidity with which the 

 fishing has been carried on, and the gentle and unsus- 

 picious nature of the great animal, there is reason to 

 believe that there were much larger specimens formerly 

 than any that are now to be met with. The ancient 

 naturalists, who were rather too much allied to that 

 u 3 



