312 THE BOOK OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



We may now consider the food of Whales, and we shall then 

 learn something of the peculiar structure of the mouth, and shall be 

 able to ascertain the difference between the toothed and the toothless 

 species. The Greenland Whale belongs to the last-named, which 

 is, in itself, probably sufficient to occasion some amount of surprise, 

 but few people appear to be aware of the fact that, although carni- 

 vorous, or flesh-feeders, many of the Whales feed upon very small 

 animals which inhabit the sea. This "whale food," as it may be 

 called, consists mostly of a transparent mollusc known as Clio 

 borealis, which only measures about one and a quarter inches in 

 length. These molluscs, as well as a creature smaller still which is 

 allied to the common Fresh-water Shrimp, are found in immense 

 numbers at or near the surface of the Whale's native seas, "espe- 

 cially at the border of the drift ice," and it is among the inhabitants 

 of these innumerable shoals of small marine animals that the Whale 

 makes havoc. The abundance of food which it is necessary for such 

 a gigantic beast to partake of may well be imagined, and here we 

 have another reason why it is only possible for it to inhabit the sea, 

 the latter, "with its superabundance of animal life," being the only 

 place which can supply its demands. 



One would hardly credit the statement that most kinds of Whales 

 are unable to swallow a fish larger than a herring and thus we may 

 at once conclude that some animal other than a Whale was 

 the one chosen by Jonah in which to spend three days and three 

 nights as recorded in the Holy Word but such is the case owing 

 to "the remarkably small calibre of the oesophagus." It must not 

 be overlooked, however, that the Whale under review has a gigantic 

 toothless mouth. So large is it that the beast could take in a small 

 boat with comparative ease, but the smallness of its "swallow" 

 would bar any further progress, so that Jonah could not, if he had 

 wished, have safely located himself in the Whale's belly, even 

 if he had successfully accommodated his person in the animal's 

 mouth ! 



These small creatures, then, upon which some kinds of Whales 

 feed, must of necessity be collected in countless numbers, and to 

 enable them to be scooped up the animal is provided with a remark- 

 able apparatus, which may be compared to a sieve or a fisherman's 

 net. This apparatus consists of a row of triangular-shaped horny 

 plates, which are suspended from each side of the palate, and may 

 be likened to skins hanging from a roof. These horny plates are 



