R. BKOWN ON THE CETACEA OF GllEENLANT). 77 



young Whales, it is not improbable that this size may be exceeded 

 in some individuals. Most of the slimy-looking substances found 

 floating in the Arctic seas are generally masses of Diatomaceai 

 combined with Protozoa, &c. ; but in some cases it is the mucous 

 lining of the bronchial passages which has been discharged when 

 the animal was " blowing." This " blowing," so familiar a feature 

 of the Cetacea, but especially of the Mysticete, is quite analogous 

 to the breathing of the higher Mammals, and the " blow-holes " 

 are the perfect homologues of the nostrils. It is most erroneously 

 stated that the Whale ejects water from the " blow-holes." I have 

 been many times only a few feet from the Whale when "blowing," 

 and, though purposely observing it, could never see that it ejected 

 from its nostrils anything but the ordinary breath — a fact which 

 might almost have been deduced from analogy. In the cold 

 Arctic air this breath is generally condensed, and falls upon those 

 close at hand in the form of a dense spray, which may have led 

 seamen to suppose that this vapour was originally ejected in the 

 form of water. Occasionally when the Whale blows just as it is 

 rising out of or sinking in the sea, a little of the superincumbent 

 water may be ejected upward by the column of breath. When 

 the Whale is wounded in the lungs, or in any of the blood-vessels 

 immediately supplying them, blood, as might be expected, is 

 ejected in the death-throes along Avith the breath. When the 

 whaleman sees his prey "€pouting red," he concludes that its end 

 is not far distant ; it is then mortally wounded. The Whale 

 carries its young nine or ten months, and produces in March or 

 April. In the latter month a Hull ship obtained a sucker with 

 the umbilical cord still attached. It rarely produces more than 

 one at a birth, though it is said that in a few instances two have 

 been seen following the female. It couijles during the months of 

 June, July, or August, and, as in most, if not all of the Cetacea^ 

 this operation is performed in an upright and not in a recumbent 

 position, as stated in some works, the authors of which might be 

 supposed to speak from personal observation.* Equally erroneous, 

 as far as I can learn, is the idea that it only produces once in two 

 years ; but on this subject, as on many others concerning the 

 Cetacea, it would be difficult to pronounce an opinion founded on 

 any decided knowledge. In the month of August I haAe seen 

 them in the position described, with the pectoral fins adpressed 

 against each other's body, and the male lashing the water with 

 his tail. The young suckles to a considerable age (probably one 

 year), and in order to allow of its getting convenient access to the 

 mamma3 the mother lies on its side for a time. Their love of 

 their offspring is so strong, that though the cubs are of very little 

 value, yet the whalers often make a point of killing them in order 

 to render the mother more accessible. During the period of pro- 

 creation the mother is much fiercer and more dangerous to 

 approach than at other seasons, when it is a timid, harmless 

 animal. I once saw a Whale, when the boats were approaching 



* Dewhurst, "Natural History of the Cetacea," p. 20. 



