632 THE SPOUTING AND MOVEMENTS OF WHALES. 



reality of these evidences, however Httle he has witnessed whales blow- 

 ing close at hand. An observation of this kind alone should suffice to 

 decide the question, but I have another proof furnished by a more 

 direct observation. On January 28, 1898, the Belgica was in Charlotte 

 Bay (Gerlache Strait). We were surrounded by a great school of 

 humpbacks, and I located myself with the photographic apparatus on 

 a stage which projected about 2 meters over the gunwales of the ship. 

 One of the humpbacks came up suddenl}' under the stage to spout, and 

 I was entirely enveloped in the animal's expiration. Under these con- 

 ditions 1 was well situated to know whether the humpbacks eject water 

 or air. I can assure Dahl, Bruce, and all who persistently remain 

 followers of Aristotle and Pliny that there was not the least bit of 

 water in the expiration of this whale. I was struck in the face by a 

 warm and humid wind of a fetid odor, to the consideration of which I 

 •shall return later on. 



The anatomical structure of the larynx, of the back of the buccal 

 cavity, and of the blowhole prohibits the expulsion of water. We 

 know, indeed, that among all the cetaceans the extremity of the 

 larynx is prolonged into a ver}" long appendage, which, penetrating 

 deeply into the canal of the blowhole, completely fills the cavity. 

 This arrangement is a marvelous adaptation to the necessity which 

 there is for whales to swallow their prey under water. The respira- 

 tory organs are thus completely separated from the digestive organs 

 in the back of the buccal cavity, the food passing into the esophagus 

 on each side of the larj^nx, while the water or the substanc^es with 

 which it is filled are not able to penetrate into the larynx. This being 

 established, it is not easy to see how the water can be expelled 

 through the blowhole, which is completely closed. On the other hand, 

 one asks in vain what may be the force which could project this water 

 to such considerable heights as are observed in the case of some spouts. 

 How is the whale able to produce the necessary pressure in its mouth? 

 The conformation of this cavity does not permit, in fact, a complete 

 closing of the mouth even among the toothed whales; on the con- 

 trary, it is formed in such a manner as to allow the passage of water. 

 The whalebone whales have in the corners of the mouth veritable 

 gutters, which are especially well developed in the humpback and are 

 useful to these animals in expelling the water in which their food 

 floats. 



Thus, in order that the water may be thrown out through the blow- 

 holes to a great height, it is necessary that it be previously' held in the 

 lungs. I believe that even the most fervent partisans of Aristotle's 

 ideas would recoil before such a supposition. 



But there is one case in which a liquid is thrown to a considerable 

 height through the blowholes. That is when the whale is wounded in 

 the lungs. In this case a jet of blood is often thrown to great height. 



