52^ COM M O N WHALE. Class IV. 



of the longed four yards in length ; of thefe there 

 are eommonly ^^o on each fide, but in very old 

 fiih. more; of theie about 500 are of a length fi£ 

 for ufe, the others being too fhort. They are fur- 

 rounded with long ftrong hair, not only that they 

 may not hurt the tongue, but as drainers to pre- 

 vent the return of their food when they difcharge 

 the water out of their mouths. 



It is from thefe hairs that Ariftotk gave the name 

 of MvrU-Aro',-^ or the bearded whak^ to this fpecies,. 

 which he tells us had in its mouth hairs inftead of 

 teeth * ; and Pliny defcri^es the fame under the 

 name of Miifcidus-\. Though the antients were 

 acquainted with this animal, yet as far as we re- 

 colledr, they were ignorant of their ufes as well as 

 capture. 



Aldrovand'^ indeed defcribes from Oppian^ what- 

 he m.iftakes for whale fifhing : he was deceived by 

 the word ^-^tc?, v/hich is ufed not only to exprefs 

 whale in general, but any great fifli. T\\t poet here 

 meant the jhark^ and fhews the way of taking it 

 in the very manner praclifed at prefent, by a 

 ftrong hook baited with fiefli. He defcribes too 

 its three-fold row of teeth, a circumflance that at 

 once difproves its being a whale : 



Tf/x^J ^' Ofxoia^ vBiag. HiJ?. an. Lib, III. c, 12. 

 t Lib. XL c. 37. 

 % De Cais, 261, 



