ICHTHYOLOGY. 



met with in the southern seas, one hundred and 

 sixty feet long. 



Q. Describe the external form of this huge ani- 

 mal. 



A. Thehead is exceedingly large, beingfull one 

 third of the whole length of the animal. Its mouth 

 is destitute of teeth, but their place is supplied by 

 a horny substance erroneously called whalebone ; 

 the tongue, which is soft and spongy, is often 

 eighteen feet long and ten broad ; the eyes are not 

 larger than those of an ox; the ears are small 

 holes, immediately behind the eyes, and on the 

 top of the head are two orifices, through which 

 the animal occasionally spouts water to a consi- 

 derable height ; the lateral fins are about ten feet 

 long, and have their origin near the angles of the 

 mouth, and the body gradually tapers to the tail. 



Q. What is the principal food of the whale ? 



A. Though the whale is of such enormous mag- 

 nitude, its gullet is not sufficiently capacious to 

 swallow a fish larger than a herring ; its chief sup- 

 port is, therefore, a species of snail, and different 



Lat'eral, a. belonging to the sides. 

 Gul'let, s. the throat ; the passage through which the 

 food enters the stomach. 



