420 WHALES. 



The tail of these animals is an enormously powerful organ, set transversely upon the 

 body, and driving the creature forward by its powerful vertical sweeps. With such wonderful 

 strength is the tail endowed, that the largest Whales, measuring some eighty feet in length, 

 are able by its aid to leap clear out of the water, as if they were little fish leaping after flies. 

 This movement is technically termed "breaching," and the sound which is produced by the 

 huge carcase as it falls upon the water is so powerful as to be heard for a distance of several 

 miles. The length of the tail is, in the larger Whales, about five or six feet, but it is often 

 more than twenty feet in breadth. The substance of the tail is remarkably strong, being com- 

 posed of three layers of tendinous fibres. When taken from the animal it is largely used in 

 the manufacture of glue. 



The skin of the Whales is devoid of hair, and is of a rather peculiar structure, as is need- 

 ful to enable it to resist the enormous pressure to which it is constantly subjected at the vast 

 depths to which the animal descends. The skin is threefold, consisting first of the scarf-skin, 

 or epidermis ; secondly, of the rete-mucosum, which gives color to the animal ; and thirdly, 

 of the true skin, which is modified in order to meet the needs of the creature which it defends. 

 The blubber, indeed, is nothing more than the true skin, which is composed of a number of 

 interlacing fibres, capable of containing a very great amount of oily matter. This blubber is 

 never less than several inches in thickness, and in many places is nearly two feet deep, and as 

 elastic as caoutchouc, offering an admirable resistance to the force of the waves and the pressure 

 of the water. In a large Whale the blubber will weigh thirty tons. 



None of the Whales are able to turn their heads, for the vertebrae of the neck are fused 

 together into one mass, and compressed into a very small space. 



The order Cetacea, from the term ceta, meaning a Whale — the latter being from the Anglo- 

 Saxon liwal — embraces a very interesting and wonderful group of creatures. Confined to the 

 waters, and formed like the finny denizens of the deep, they are quite naturally regarded as 

 fishes by the casual observer. Little anatomical knowledge is required, however, to under- 

 stand their true position ; indeed, one physiological fact, which is most easily determined by 

 any one who witnesses the living Cetacean, settles the matter without qualification ; they breathe 

 the external air through lungs, and not by aid of gills as in fishes. Again, Whales suckle their 

 young, and, consequently, are of the great class of which man is the head, the Mammalia. 



Whales are grouped primarily into several sections, or families. The one usually regarded 

 as ranking first, is that including the Whalebone Whales, Balcenidce, so called, Balsena being 

 another name for whalebone. The Cachelots, or Sperm Whales, form another group. 



There is nothing notably different in the internal organization of Whales from that of land 

 animals, excepting the development of large series or net-work of arteries, within which the 

 blood is reserved in large volumes, to serve when the creature remains under water any con- 

 siderable length of time. A large portion of the interior of the chest is lined by these plexuses 

 of blood-vessels. The nostrils are situated on the highest point of the head ; these so-called 

 blow-holes are thus in the most convenient position for receiving air as the animal rises to the 

 surface. The nostrils communicate directly with the passages to the lungs. A peculiar 

 mechanism in the throat, valvular in character, prevents the water that may be taken into the 

 mouth from passing into the lungs. The figures of Whales have from the earliest time been 

 represented as "blowing" water from the nostrils. It is impossible for such a feat to be per- 

 formed by any of the species, yet authors persist in allowing their books to perpetuate such 

 an error. The structure is essentially the same as our own, and most certainly no human being- 

 can with any degree of success take in water and blow it out in a stream from the nose. What 

 looks like water is the vapor that is forced out when the animal expires ; and at the same 

 moment the small quantity of water that chances to be in the valves of the blow-holes is 

 forced upwards. One witnessing the "blowing" of a Whale will readily see that it is mostly 

 vapor, for it floats away like smoke ; if it were water, the volume would fall downwards. 



Captain Scoresby, an English Whaler of many years' experience, is the most reliable 

 authority on this subject, and has contributed more towards its literature than any person. He 

 says the Whales have no voice, yet others think that some species have a sort of bellowing voice. 

 The seals, we are well aware, have most potent voices ; some of the most discordant kind. 



