THE SPOUTING AND MOVEMENTS OF WHALES. 637 



B. — INSPIRATION. 



Inspiration is effected immediately after expiration, without an 

 interval. The protuberance of the blowhole is alwa3's the only part 

 which appears at the moment on the surface, but its form is now quite 

 dijBFerent. The orifice in the whalebone whales, instead of being- situ- 

 ated on the conical eminence as it is during expiration, is now wide 

 open and the protuberance of the blowhole is so much flattened as to 

 be confounded with the regular contours of the head. This disposi- 

 tion is very clearly shown in the photographs [not here reproduced]. 

 In the toothed whales the modification is less, but the orifice of the 

 blowhole must be wider open than during expiration. 



The duration of the inspiration is always less than that of expira- 

 tion, which can be readil}' understood. During expiration the orifice 

 of the blowhole is small, and the air, though projected, it is true, with 

 violence, is expelled in a column of small diameter.' During the 

 inspiration, on the contrary, the orifice is wide open that the air may 

 be taken in suddenh\ The whale has probably acquired this faculty 

 of very rapid inspiration in order that it may be exposed for a less 

 time to the penetration of water into the respiratory apparatus. 



I have been able frequentl}" to confirm this extreme rapidity of 

 inspiration in the finbacks, the humpbacks, and the porpoises, and 

 many accurate writers have noted it as well as mj^self. Thiercelin 

 (1866, vol. 1) states that among all the cetaceans "the expiration is 

 very much longer than the inspiration," and again, " but in all cases, 

 as soon as this operation has ceased, the blowhole appears to sink so 

 much that it is necessary to know that the animal needed to inspire in 

 order not to suppose that it confined itself to the first phase of its 

 function [of breathing]." Henking (1901) has observed among the 

 sulphurbottoms {B. musculu.s) that '"the inspiration plainly follows 

 [the expiration] with extraordinary rapidity, and the sounding of the 

 whale occurs veiy quickly after the projection of the spout." Beale 

 (1839) says that immediatel}" after the sperm whale has blown the 

 inspiration takes place ver}' quickh% because the snout descends. 

 Kiikenthal (1903) also maintains from theoretical considerations, on 

 which I do not wish to insist, that the inspiration must be veiy short. 



But Rawitz (1900, a) compels us to give attention anew to his 

 statements. He asserts that the inspiration is longer than the expira- 

 tion and deeper. On wdiat does this author rely as the basis for this 

 statement? It can only be his own observations, but one can con- 

 vince oneself as regards their accuracy by running over the lines I 

 have devoted to the humpback. .And what is the meaning of an 

 inspiration deeper than an expiration? Does liawitz imagine that, 

 everything considered, the whale introduces a larger volume of air 

 into its lungs than it rejects? He denies also the enlargement of the 



