Whale- 
bone. 
36 COMMON WHALE. Chg Iv. 
yielding five or fix barrels of oil. The gullet is very 
{mall for fo vaft a fith, not exceeding four inches in 
width.» In the middle of the head are two orifices, 
thro’ which it fpouts water to a vaft height, and with 
a great noife, efpecially when difturbed or wounded. 
The eyes are no larger than thofe of an ox. 
On the back there is no fin, but on the fides, be- 
neath each eye, are two large ones. 
_ The penis is eight feet in length, inclofed in a 
ftrong fheath. The teats in the female are placed in 
the lower part of the belly. 
' ‘The tail is broad and femilunar. 
This whale varies in color: the back of fome being 
red, the belly generally white. Others are ‘black, 
fome mottled, others quite white, according to the 
“ obfervations of Marten, who fays, that their colors in 
the water are extremely beautiful, and that their fkin 
is very fmooth and flippery. 
What is called whalebone adheres to the upper jaw, 
and is formed of thin parallel laminz, fome of the 
longeft four yards in length ; of thefe there are com- 
monly 350 0n each fide, but in very old fifth more ; 
of thefe about 500 are of a length fit for ufe, the 
others being too fhort. They are furrounded with 
long ftrong hair, not only that they may not hurt the 
tongue, but as ftrainers to prevent the return of 
their food when they difcharge the water out of their 
mouths. 
It is from thefe hairs that 4riffotle gave the name 
Of Musixnros, or the bearded whale, to this fpecies, 
which he tells us had in its mouth hairs inftead of 
teeth; 
