ORDER CETACEA. 461' 



total length. Its upper jaw, more advanced than the under, 

 is covered by a very thick lip, and from each side of this jaw 

 projects an immensely long, narrow, conical tooth, and 

 which from its base terminates insensibly in a very sharp 

 point. 



This same tooth separated from the animal, was for a 

 long period of time preserved in the cabinets of the curious 

 under the improper name of the horn of the unicorn. It 

 was represented as the remains of a weapon which the 

 ancients supposed to exist in the middle of the forehead of 

 that fabulous animal, which they pictured as partaking of 

 the form of the Horse and of the Stag, and whose chime- 

 rical history has been transmitted to posterity. 



Even long since this opinion was dismissed as erroneous, 

 many have believed with Albertus, that this tusk was 

 situated in the forehead of the Narwhal. A series however, 

 of subsequent and exact observations, have established the 

 certainty that two tusks exist in the upper jaw of this 

 animal, one on the right side, and the other on the left. 

 When an individual of this species has attained its full 

 growth, but one of these tusks remain, the correspondent 

 one being broken by some accident. 



Be this as it may, this tooth, excessively hard and pointed, 

 and sometimes twenty feet long, must prove a most tre- 

 mendous weapon, and inflict cruel and deep wounds when 

 directed by the enraged animal at any object of his fury. 



This offensive and defensive weapon is twisted spirally 

 through its entire length, and the number of volutes from 

 base to point is sometimes sixteen, sometimes voluting to 

 the right, sometimes to the left. The matter of which 

 this tooth is composed has some analogy with ivory, and is 

 employed for the same purposes. It is hollow at its base 

 like that of the Elephant, which it exceeds in hardness and 

 whiteness; its fibres are finer, and not crossed one upon 

 the other like that of the quadruped alluded to. They are 



