THE WHALE 



153 



tione on the part where the hind-legs of the ordinary quadruped 

 and most other mammals are placed. But it has a large and 

 powerful tail with great lobes placed horizontally, and that is of 

 much more use to the whale as an aquatic animal than hind 

 paddles would be. The lobes of this tail are often from 20 to 

 25 feet in breadth. The tail in fishes is the real swimming 

 instrument, and so it is with the whale, whose tail is so immensely 

 powerful that with a single blow it has been known to dash a 

 boat in pieces. 



We read just now of the " blow-holes " of the whale, how 

 the animal forces out its breath through them when it rises to 

 the surface, and how it sometimes drives a column of spray into 



Whale's Jaw, showing Whalebone 



the air as well. We may wonder how it is that the water does 

 not flow down these blow-holes when the whale dives. The reason 

 is, that its nostrils are made in such a way as to close as soon 

 as the whale sinks under water, and open again only when the 

 animal returns to the surface. 



As in fishes, the whale's organs of hearing have no external 

 prominence, but are very small apertures behind the eyes. 



Besides oil there is another valuable product which we get 

 from the whale, namely, whalebone. 



If we could examine a whale's mouth, we should see the 

 ivTi a 1 fhon p_h£ri crin cr down from the upper jaw in large plates, which 

 are sometimes as^TStrch,^ eleven feet in length. Each of these 

 plates terminates in a kind of fringe, so that the whole forms a 

 close mesh-work all round the mouth. 



