xiv TWO TYPES OF WHALES 189 



the harpoon often pierces the lungs or air passages of the un- 

 fortunate victim, and then fountains of blood may be forced 

 high in the air through the blow-holes, as commonly depicted 

 in scenes of Arctic adventure ; but this is nothing more 

 (allowance being made for the whale's peculiar mode of 

 breathing) than what always follows severe wounds of the 

 respiratory organs of other warm-blooded animals. 



The Cetacea all subsist on animal food of some kind. One 

 genus alone (the killers, Oreo) eat other warm-blooded animals, 

 as seals, and even members of their own order, both large and 

 small. Some feed on fish, others on small floating Crustacea, 

 pteropods, and medusae ; while the staple food of many is 

 constituted of the various species of cephalopods (squid and 

 cuttlefish), which abound in some seas in vast quantities. 

 With some exceptions they are generally timid, inoffensive 

 animals, active in their movements, sociable and gregarious 

 in their habits. They are remarkable for the great care and 

 affection with which they treat their young. 



Among the existing members of the order there are two 

 very distinct types the toothed whales (Odontoceti} and the 

 whalebone or baleen whales (Mystacoceti), which present 

 throughout their organisation markedly distinct structural 

 characters, and have no transitional forms between them. 

 The giants of the order, of which I am about to speak, 

 contain representatives of both groups. 



The whales that! have teeth and no whalebone are far the 

 most numerous, and include all the smaller members of the 

 order, the various kinds of dolphins and porpoises, among 

 which are the fresh-water dolphins of the great rivers of 

 India and South America. Some of the moderate -sized 

 animals of this group, especially those spoken of by sailors 

 under the vague designations of " grampuses," " bottle-noses," and 

 " black fish " (Orca, Hyperoodon, and Glolicephalus of zoologists), 

 may be classed as whales, and some of them, as well as the 

 narwhal and beluga or white whale of the Arctic Seas, are 

 objects of pursuit by man, and when captured yield products, 

 mainly oil, of commercial value. But time will only allow 

 me now to speak in any detail of one species, which 

 greatly surpasses all the others, not only in size, but in value 



