144 LECTURE I¥. 



length: the eyes most disproportionably small ^ 

 scarce exceeding in size the eyes of an Ox. The 

 common colour of this species is black above, and 

 white beneath ; but in this it is known to vary : 

 the skin, as in all the rest of the Whale tribe, is 

 perfectly smooth, soft, and glossy, and is entirely 

 bare, or destitute of any appearance of hair. The 

 general residence of the animal is in the Northern 

 seas ; its food is supposed to consist chiefly of dif- 

 ferent kinds of small, gelatinous marine animals, 

 particularly of the smaller Medusp. or Sea-Blub- 

 bers, and Sea-Snails of the genus called Clio. The 

 throat in this Whale is observed to be very ] 

 narrow, so that it only preys on the smaller sea- 

 animals in general. 



With respect to the anatomy of the Whale, I 

 shall content myself with observing, that on so 

 colossal a scale of magnitude does nature act in 

 these animals, that the vertebrae or joints of the 

 back-bone are of the size of moderate barrels ; 

 the ribs and jaw-bones so large as to be occasion- 

 ally used to form the sides of tall, arched gate- 

 ways; the heart too large to be contained in a 

 very wide tub ; the aorta or principal artery mea- 

 sures about a foot in diameter, and it is computed 



