Il6 Anecdotal Natural History. 



I mentioned that the blow-hole has only a partial right 

 to the name of nostril. It performs only one duty of 

 a nostril, i.e., that of admitting air to the lungs, and is 

 not in any way an organ of scent. In fact, the sense 

 of smell is absolutely wanting in the whale tribe, the 

 entire system of olfactory nerves being absent. 



No water can pass down the blow-hole, a simple and 

 very effective valve being so arranged that it closes 

 the aperture by the mere pressure of the water above it. 



The whales being warm-blooded animals, some provi- 

 sion must necessarily be made for retaining the vital 

 heat of their bodies in the conditions under which their 

 lives are passed. Yet to all outward appearance, this 

 seems to have been entirely neglected, the smooth and 

 polished skin being apparently the very worst medium 

 which could possibly have been chosen. 



A glance beneath the surface, however, tells a diffe- 

 rent tale. We find that immediately beneath the skin 

 is a layer of coils of fat, some twelve to eighteen or 

 more inches in thickness, which is enclosed in tough, 

 membranous cells. This substance, commonly known 

 as ' blubber,' serves a double purpose, the non-con- 

 ducting fat retaining the heat of the body, while the 

 thick elastic mass resists the enormous pressure of the 

 water at the vast depths to which the animal descends. 



We now come to the remarkable modification of 

 the breathing apparatus which allows the whale to 

 remain beneath the water for a considerable space of 

 time without rising to the surface in order to obtain a 

 fresh supply of air. 



As is the case with all warm-blooded animals, respi- 

 ration in some form or other must be continually kept 

 up. The blood must be constantly supplied with 

 oxygen, or life cannot be preserved. 



With the whale, however, the necessity for constant 

 respiration would entirely prevent it from pursuing its 



