OEDEE OP CETACEA. 33 



The Cetacea of the tribe of Whales {Balcenidw) owe the enor- 

 mous development of the head, not to the brain nor to the skull, 

 which preserve their ordinary proportions, but to the bones of the 

 face, which acquire enormous dimensions. They comprise the 

 genus Whale and the genus Cachalot or Sperm Whale.* 



Whales are divided into two sections, Whales properly so called, 

 and Rorquals. 



The Whales properly so called are the Greenland or Right 

 Whale {Balwna mysticetus), another species in the Northern 

 Pacific, and two or more species in the Antarctic Ocean. 



These animals are the especial object of desire of whalers in 

 both hemispheres. They resist the attacks of man less than the 

 others, and for a long time have yielded very abundant products. 

 What we are going to say on Whales will, then, apply particularly 

 to the Right Whale of the Arctic Regions. 



The Right Whales are not, as commonlj^ supposed, the largest of 

 marine animals, and indeed of all animals whatever, existent or 

 extinct, for they do not attain such enormous dimensions as some 

 of the Rorquals. According to Scoresby, the Greenland ^^Tiale does 

 not exceed seventy feet in length, and its geographical range is con- 

 fined within the limits of the Arctic Circle. But the Right Whales 

 are considerably the most bidky in proportion to their length. 



Whales are by most peojDle considered as shapeless masses, as if 

 these creatures, which far exceed aU others in length and bulk, 

 differed from them also by being wanting in those proportions 

 which we consider as allied to beautjr. Let us examine, however, 

 this mass, shapeless in appearance, and let us see if it does not, on 

 the contrary, present a well-arranged whole, f 



The body of the Right Whale (Fig. 12) has the form of an 

 immense and irregvdar cylinder, the diameter of which is about a 

 third of its length. The anterior portion of this enormous cylinder 

 is the head, of which the size is a third of the whole animal. 

 Convex above, the head represents very nearly a portion of a 

 sphere. Slightly behind the middle of this sphere rises an 



* The Cachalots belong properly to the Dolphin series, and the remainder, or true 

 Whales and Rorquals, are toothless, and provided -nith flakes of laUen (popularly 

 styled whalehone). — Ed. 



"t In all of the Cetacea the skull is unsymmetrical as viewed from above, exenpt 

 in the Susiis {Platanista, and perhaps Inin). The single tusk of the Narwhal aaain 

 exemplifies this irregularity ; and whalers assert that the Cachalots are always bUnd 

 one side, of which circumstance they endeavour to take advantage.— Ed. 



on 



