404 HiSTOUV OF 



Nor is tlicir sense of hearing in less perfection ; for they are 

 warned at great distances, of any danger preparing against them. 

 It would seem as if nature had designedly given them these ad- 

 vantages, as they maltiply little, in order to continue their kind, 

 it is true, indeed, that the external organ of hearing is not per- 

 ceptible, for this might only embarrass them in their natural ele- 

 ment : but as soon as the thin scarf-skin above mentioned is 

 removed, a black spot is discovered behind the eye, and under 

 that is the auditory canal, that leads to a regular apparatus for 

 hearing. In short, the animal hears the smallest sounds at veiy 

 great distances, and at all times, except when it is spouting wa- 

 ter ; which is the time that the fishers approach to strike it. 



These spout holes or nostrils, in all the cetaceous tribe, have 

 been already described : in this whale there are two, one on each 

 side the head before the eyes, and crooked, somewhat like the 

 holes on the belly of a violin. From these holes this animal 

 blows the water very fiercely, and with such a noise, that it roars 

 like a hollow wind, and may be heard at three miles distance. 

 When wounded, it then blows more fiercely than ever, so that it 

 sounds like the roaring of the sea in a great storm. 



We have already obseiTed, that the substance called whale- 

 bone, is taken from the upper jaw of the animal, and is very dif- 

 ferent from the real bones of the whale. The real bones are 

 hard, like those of great land animpls, are very porous, and filled 

 with marrow. Two great strong bones sustain the upper lip, 

 lying against each other in the shape of a half-moon : some of 

 these are twenty feet long; they are seen in several gardens set 

 up against each other, and are usually mistaken for the ribs of 

 this animal. 



Such is the general conformation and figure of this great in- 

 habitant of the deep, the precise anatomy of which has not been 

 yet ascertained. In those places where they are caught in great- 

 est abundance, the sailors are not very curious as to the struc- 

 ture of the viscera ; and few anatomists care to undertake a task 

 where the operator, instead of separating with a lancet, must cut 

 his way with an axe. It is as yet doubted, therefore, whether 

 the whale, that in most points internally resembles a quadruped, 

 may not have one great bowel fitted entirely for the reception of 

 air, to supply it, when constrained to keep longer than usual at 

 the bottom. The sailors universally affirm that it has ; and 



