466 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



in as many alveoli which are sunk pretty deeply in the 

 upper jaw ; a fleshy tongue of a lively red and little mobi- 

 lity, fills almost the entire of the bottom of the throat. 



The eye which is blackish and surrounded with very 

 smooth hairs has but a small diameter. It is situated above 

 the space which separates the aperture of the throat from 

 the hairs of the pectoral fins. 



The orifice of the meatus auditorius is scarcely distin- 

 guishable, though situated on a sort of excrescence of the 

 skin which appears very plainly between the eye and the 

 pectoral fin. 



The two spiracles by which this animal ejects the water 

 to a considerable height and with uncommon force, lead to 

 one and the same aperture situated at the exterior extremity 

 of the muzzle. The oblique direction of these respiratory 

 canals causes the water to fall in front. Such is their 

 organization, that the Macrocephali can remain longer 

 under water than any other of the Cetacea. 



The nape of the neck is marked by a slight depression 

 which is traced from each side of the head as far as the 

 pectoral fin. The belly is very voluminous and rounded ; 

 the tail, not so long as the head, is conical : it is suscep- 

 tible of considerable mobility. Its extremity, the diameter 

 of which is small, is divided into two lobes, sloping and 

 recurved one upon the other. From the end of one of 

 these lobes to the extremity of the other there is sometimes 

 a distance of fifteen feet. 



In the last third of the length of the back is a longi- 

 tudinal callosity in the form of a fin, which is abruptly 

 terminated from the side of the tail in a perpendicular line. 



The Cachalot Macrocephalus has a skin as soft as silk : 

 its usual colour is blackish with green reflections, and 

 mingled with shades of gray. Sometimes it is of a slate- 

 blue spotted with white, and the belly is always whitish. 

 Spring is the time of rut, when desperate combats take 



