CHAPTER XI 
ORDER OF WHALES AND PORPOISES 
CETE 
O some persons who are beyond the reach of large mu- 
seums, or a complete work on natural history, the whales, 
dolphins and porpoises seem very far away. To those who 
live far from the sea, it might seem justifiable to omit them 
from our list; but, inasmuch as all Americans travel, and 
nearly every reader of this book is certain to observe some of 
the great sea-mammals disporting in the waves cf their 
ocean home, it is necessary to give them a brief notice. 
The salt waters of the world are inhabited by what is 
really a great array of species of fish-like mammals, some of 
which are the largest creatures that ever inhabited the earth. 
It is a satisfaction to know that even the largest of the great 
extinct lizards of North America did not equal the gigantic 
bulk of a ninety-foot sulphur-bottom whale of our Pacific 
coast. 
Although the Cetaceans are very fish-like in form, and 
also in mode of life, they are warm-blooded mammals, which 
breathe air instead of water, drown if submerged too long, 
bring forth their young alive, and nourish them with milk 
from their own bodies. For the protection of their flesh and 
vital organs from the cold of Arctic waters they are com- 
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