SEA 



SEA 



whale, it has no voice, and, like that animal, has an hori- 

 zontal broad tail, without even the rudiments of hind feet. 

 It inhabits the feas about Bering's, and the other Aleutian 

 jilands, between Kamtfchatka and America. 



In calm weather thefe animals fwim in great droves near 

 the mouths of rivers ; when hurt, they fwim out to the fca, 

 but foon return again. They live in families near one 

 another, each confiding of a male, female, a half-grown young 

 one, and a very fmall one ; the females oblige the young to 

 fwim before them, while the other old ones furrouiid, and, 

 as it were, guard them on all fides. I'he affeftion between 

 the male and female is very great, for if fhe is attacked, he 

 will defend her to the utmoft, and if (lie is killed, will follow 

 her carcafe to the very fhore, and fwim for fomc days near the 

 place where it was landed. 



They copulate in the fpring, in the fame manner as the 

 human kind, efpecially in calm weather, towards the even- 

 ing ; the female fwims gently about, the male purines, till 

 tired with wantoning, ihe flings herfelf on her back, and 

 admits his embraces ; the leonine and urfine feals copulate 

 after the fame manner on fliore. Stellcr fays, they go with 

 young above a year, and bring forth one at a time, wliich 

 they fuckle by two teats, placed between the breads. They 

 are very voracious and gluttonous and feed not only on the 

 fucj that grow in the fea, but fuch as arc flung on the edges 

 cf the fliore ; and when they are filled, they fall afleep on 

 their backs. Their back and fides are generally above water, 

 and as their flcin is infeiled with a fpecies of loufe peculiar to 

 themfelves, numbers of gulls are continually perching on 

 their backs to pick out the infeds. 



They continue in the Kamtfchatkan and American feas 

 the whols fummer, but in winter are very lean. They are 

 taken by harpoons faitened to a ilrong cord, but after they 

 are ftruck, it requires the united force of thirty men to draw 

 them on fhore. When one is flruck, its companions repair 

 to its help, fome will endeavour to overturn the boat, by 

 getting under it ; others will prefs down the rope, in order 

 to break it, and others ftrike at the harpoons with their tails, 

 with a view of getting it out, in which artifice they fomc- 

 tinies fucceed. Their noife is like the fnorting of a horfe, 

 which is occafioned by hard breathing. They are of an 

 enormous fize, fome being twenty-eight feet long, and eight 

 thoufand pounds in weight ; the head is fmall, oblong, and 

 almoil fquare ; the noilrils filled witli fliort bridles, the lips 

 double, and the mouth, near the juniSion of the jaws, full of 

 white tubular bridles, which ferve to prevent the food from 

 running out with the water ; the lips are alfo furnifhed with 

 briftles, which ferve indead of teeth to cut the roots of the 

 fea plants ; in the mouth there are no teeth, only two flat 

 white bones, one above and another below in each jaw, with 

 undulated furfaces, which anfwer the purpofe of grinders. 

 The eyes are fmall ; indead of ears there are two fmall ori- 

 fices ; the tongue is pointed and fmall, the neck is thick, and 

 the head always hangs down. Near the dioulders the circum- 

 ference of the body is twelve feet, about the belly twenty, 

 near the tail four feet eight inches ; the head is thirty-one 

 inches, and the neck nearly feven feet ; which diraenfions render 

 the animal extremely deformed. Near the fhoulders are two 

 feet or fins, two feet two inches long, without fingers or 

 nails ; the tail is thick, drong, and horizontal, ending in a 

 ftiff black fin, flightly forked. The flcin is thick and black, 

 and full of inequalities, and fo hard as fcaicely to be cut with 

 an ax. without hair ; beneath the Ikin is a thick blubber, 

 which tades like oil of almonds. The fiefli is coarfer than 

 beef, and will not foon putrefy. The young ones tafte hke 

 veal ; the (kin is iifed for (hoes, and for covering the fides of 

 boats. Pennant's Hiit. Quad, vol, ii. p. 536. &c. 



The fea-cow of the gulf of St. Lawrence weighs from 

 fifteen hundred to two thoufand pounds, and produces from 

 one to two barrels of oil, which is boiled out of a fat fub- 

 dance that lies between the flcin and the flefh ; it carries its 

 young about nine months, and feldom brings forth more 

 than one at a time. The flcin is cut into flices of two or 

 tliree inches wide, and exported to America for carriage- 

 traces, and to England for glue. The teeth afford an in- 

 ferior fort of ivory, which very foon turns yellow. Philof. 

 Tranf. vol. Ixv. part 2. p. 249, &c. 



SEA-Crow, in Ornithology, a name given by the common 

 people of many counties of England to the pewit ; which 

 fee. 



SEA-Crow is alfo a name given by Edwards to the cut- 

 water of Catefby and Pennant, and to the black fliimmer 

 of Latham. See Rynchops Nigra. 



&E\-Cyprefs, in the Vermes Zoophyta, a name given by 

 Ellis to the Sertul.^uia CypreJJlna ; which fee. 



SsA-Daffocli/, in Botany. See Panxratium. 



SsA-Devi/, in Ichthyology, an Engiifh name for the ri7na 

 pijliitri.v, or lophius pijfcatorius of Linnaeus ; a very remark- 

 able fpecies of fifh, of a middle nature between the cartila- 

 ginous and bony fifhes. See Lophius Pijcatorius. 



The bronchial holes are three on each fide, which are 

 fitnated deep in the mouth, and open into marfupia or fac- 

 culi on the fide of the head, the fides of which are the bran- 

 chiodegse, having feveral long flender cartilaginous bone.?, 

 running longitudinally for their fupport, analogous to the 

 branchiodegal bones of other filhes ; and thefe facks. Dr. 

 Parfons conjeclures, may anfwer two ends, fird, to form 

 the membranje branchiodegse ; and, fecondly, to make a 

 convenient receptacle for the young till they are able to fhift 

 for themfelves. If this end, he fays, was not to be anfwered, 

 the branchia; might have been terminated near their origin 

 in the mouth, as in other fiihes. If this fifh does not bring 

 forth its young perfect. Dr. Parfons thinks there can be no 

 life alTigned for thefe facks ; but if they are viviparous, then 

 the young may probably be harboured in them, being capable 

 o( crawling into them, as we may iee by the pedtoral webs 

 on the under fide ; befides, as tliefe fifhes crawl on the bot- 

 toms of flioal places, watching and alluring their prev, the 

 young mud be proteAed by the parent, till they are able to 

 provide for themfelves, which may probably be when thev 

 grow too large to enter into thele marfupia;. 



This fifh has either no iiollril?, or elfe they are hid witlii.i 

 the head, and has a fort of membranous rim running a!! 

 round the commifTures of its fides and belly. Its flefli, 

 when boiled, tades like that of the frog. Wiilughby's Hid. 

 Pifc. p. 85, Phil. Tranf. vol. xlvi. p. 126, &c. 



&E.A-Z)ragon, or Draco marinus, a fpecies of Trachinus ; 

 which fee. 



SEA-Drngs, among Mariners, are fuch things as hang 

 over the (hip in the fea, as (hirts, coats, and even the boat, 

 &c. when towed. 



SEA-Eagle, yiquila marina, in Ichthyology, a fpecies of the 

 raia, with a fmooth body and a long ferrated fpine on a finny 

 tail. See Raia Aquila. 



SiEA-Eel. See Eel and Murex.\. 



&EA-Egg, or Sea-apple, the name of the roundi(h centronia, 

 with crooked or fefciculated fpines. See Centhonia and 

 Echinus. 



SEA-Fans and Sea-feathers. See GoRGONlA and Spo.sgia . 



SEA-F(iring, denotes the condition of a mariner. 



SEA-Fight. See Engagement and Signal. 



SEA-Fir, a fpecies of Sertularia ; which fee. 



Sea-Fox, in Ichthyology, an Eiiglifli name for a fi(h of the 



fqualus kind, called alfo the fea-ape ; both names being 



5 giveu 



