478 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



extremity of the jaw, which is slender and trenchant, from 

 wounding the upper lip. 



Each of these elastic laminae is accompanied in its deve- 

 lopement, by others which are called intermediate, because 

 they are in fact placed under the whalebones, which they 

 separate one from the other. These laminse being formed 

 at the same with the others, and making but one and the 

 same body with them, must necessarily strengthen and 

 maintain them in their place. 



All the Balaenaehave not their whalebones as those of the 

 Common Whale, to which the observations now made must 

 be referred. Some have them not above a foot long ; but 

 in all they are equally edged with those tufted bristles, of 

 various colours, and sometimes very long. 



The tongue of the Balaenae is usually thick, fleshy, fat, 

 soft, and spungy. It is sometimes twenty-seven feet long, 

 and from nine to twelve feet wide. It will produce then 

 more than six tons of oil. In some species it is covered 

 with a slender and smooth skin, while in others it is alto- 

 gether rough and bristly. Its colour is almost always 

 white, spotted with black on the sides. 



Though adherent to the lower jaw, this tongue is never- 

 theless susceptible of some motidn. Certain species can 

 raise, swell, and extend it to the end of the muzzle. 

 The base of this organ in some individuals is covered with 

 a flabby skin, extending towards the root, over the orifice 

 of the gullet, and rendering the entrance there so narrow 

 that fish of a moderate size cannot pass down. 



The gullet of the Common Whale is much narrower than 

 one would be led to suppose from surveying the enormous 

 circumference of the mouth. The oesophagus, however, 

 which is lined with a glandular and folded membrane, is 

 nine feet in length. 



The Balana Rostrata, or Pike-headed Whale, is also said 

 to have a narrow throat. It has also a peculiar organ, 



