BRITISH MAMMALS 



small rudimentary thigh bones, have no outward development, and are 

 buried deep v^^ithin the body. 



The head, especially in the Whalebone Whales, is large in proportion 

 to the body, and joins the latter without any perceptible neck. 



The skin is very smooth and glossy, and covers the layer of fat and 

 tissue known as * blubber,' which serves instead of a coat of hair to retain 

 the heat of the body. 



The larger species, such as the Blue Whale, measuring up to eighty- 

 five feet or more in length, with a girth of forty feet, exceed in their 

 vast size and strength any other animal either of to-day or pre-historic 

 times. 



The food of all the Cetacea, except the Killer {Orca gladiator)^ which 

 often preys on other whales or on seals, consists of fish and small 

 crustaceans, the latter being sometimes of minute size. 



The pursuit of the Whale in the Middle Ages supported a brave and 

 hardy race of seamen, and while the old methods of capture have changed, 

 and the hand-thrown harpoon is now superseded by a formidable weapon 

 with an explosive charge attached to it, the industry is still carried on 

 with profit. 



Following Sir William Flower, the British Cetacea may be divided 

 into two sub-orders, namely, the Baleen or Whalebone Whales [Mysta- 

 coceti) and the Toothed Whales {Odontocett). The first of these very 

 distinct types includes the Atlantic Right Whale, the Humpbacked Whale, 

 and the four species of Rorqual ; the latter, the Sperm Whale, Bottle-nosed 

 Whale, Cuvier's Whale, Sowerby's Whale, True's Whale, Narwhal, White 

 Whale, Killer, Pilot Whale, Risso's Grampus, Porpoise, and the four 

 Dolphins. 



The Greenland or Arctic Right Whale {Balcena mysticetus)^ which 

 appears to be confined entirely to the Polar seas, has never been taken 



