DUGONGS, MANATEES, WHALES, PORPOISES, DOLPHINS 293 
THE WHALES, PORPOISES, AND DOLPHINS 
Although anatomists have good reason for suspecting that all the members of the Whale 
Tribe are directly descended from river-dwelling forms, if not indeed, more remotely, from 
some land animal, there is something appropriate in the fact of the vast ocean, which 
covers something like three-quarters of the earth’s surface, producing the mightiest creatures 
which have ever lived. There should also be some little satisfaction for ourselves in the 
thought that, their fish-like form notwithstanding, these enormous beings really belong to 
the highest, or mammalian, class of animal life. 
One striking feature all these many-sized cetaceans have in common, and that is their 
similarity of form. Though they may vary in length from 70 to 7 feet, their outline shows 
a remarkable uniformity. Important internal and even external differences there may be. 
A whale may be toothed or toothless; a dolphin may be beaked or round-headed; either may 
be with or without a slight ridge on the back or a distinct dorsal fin; but no cetacean could 
well be mistaken for an animal of any other order. It is as well to appreciate as clearly as 
possible this close general resemblance between the largest whale and the smallest dolphin, 
as the similarity is one of some interest; and we may estimate it at its proper worth if we 
bear in mind that two species of cetaceans, outwardly alike, may not, perhaps, be more closely 
allied than such divergent ruminant types as the elephant, the giraffe, and the gazelle. 
Reference has already been made to the fact that the whales are true mammals, and we must 
now clearly set before us the justification for separating them from the Fishes — to which any one 
with a superficial knowledge of their habits and appearance would unhesitatingly assign them — 
and raising them to the company of other mammals. Let us first separate them from the 
Fishes. The vast majority of fishes, with some familiar exceptions like the conger-eel, are covered 
with scales: whales have no scales. The tail of fishes, often forked like that of whales, is 
set vertically: in whales the tail is set laterally, and for this a good reason will presently be 
shown. Fishes have anal fins: whales not only have no anal fins, but their so-called pectoral 
fins differ radically from the fins of fishes. Fishes breathe with the aid of gills: whales have 
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Photo by A. §. Rudland & Sons 
NARWHAL 
An Arctic whale, with one or rarely two long spears of bone projecting from the head 
