THE ARCTIC SEAS. 



ir.l 



visited Spitzbergen in 167G. observed that, at the 

 depth of four hundred and eighty feet, the shells 

 on the bottom were distinctly visible. 



The minute animals which constitute the food 

 of the Whales, form a very interesting subject of 

 contemplation. If any of my young readers have 

 ever been upon the sea, though only in a boat, o 

 few miles from the shore, they cannot fail to have 

 observed Heating in the water some round masses oi 

 transparent substance, like clear jelly, which alter- 

 nately contract and dilate tlieii' bodies, or sometimes 



FOOD OF THE WHALE. 



1, Limacina helicina ; 2, 3, 4, Medusce ; 5, Clio horealis. 



turn themselves, as it were, partly inside out. They 

 are of various sizes, from that of a large plate to a 

 microscopical minuteness ; they are, for the most 

 part, crossed by radiating lines, and are curiously 

 fringed at the edge. These Medusce, or Sea-blubbers, 

 as they are familiarly called, form a considerable 

 portion of the Whale's food, many species of them 

 DeiuG^ abundant in its haunts. Another little animal 

 occurs there in immense hosts, the Clio horealis, 



