THYSETER MICROPS. 



39 



Phvseier Macrocephalus; Var. F. Lin. Blunt-lieaded Cachalot; Pennant, Brit. 

 loot. iii. p. <51- Cachalot Trumpo ; La Ccpede, p. 212. t. 10.f.2. Bonnat.Ency. 

 Melh. t. 8. f.l. 



The length of this species is about sixty feet, and its breadth about 

 fifteen. The head is of enormous size; the upper jaw is much 

 longer than the lower, round and obtuse at the snout, and about 

 eight feet deep, from crown to base. The lower jaw is about 

 ten feet long, very narrow, and having about eighteen teeth on 

 each side, all pointed outwards. The eye is small, and placed 

 many feet behind the snout, nearly in the middle of the breadth 

 of the upper jaw. The body is irregularly conical, with a promi- 

 nence on the back, and another on the belly just before the anus. 

 The swimming paws are proportionally larger than in the former 

 species ; and the prevailing colour of the animal is of a blackish 



grey- 



This species yields a great quantity of spermaceti, and its blubber is 

 very productive of oil, of a finer quality than that of the common 

 Whale. It is found in the Greenland seas, and in those that wash 

 the shores of New England, and is occasionally seen on the coasts 

 of France and Britain. 



PHYSETER MICROVS.— Small-eyed Cachalot. 



Spec. Char. Dorsal fin long, erect, and pointed ; 

 teeth conical, pointed, and curved inwards. 



Great-headed Cachalot; Pennant, Brit. Zool. iii. Cachalot Microps ; Bonnatere, 

 V.ncy. Metk. Art. Cetologie, p. 16. 



The small-eyed Cachalot, or black-headed Spermaceti Whale, is 

 described by La Cepede as one of the largest, most cruel, and 

 most dangerous inhabitants of the deep. The head is so monstrous 

 as to equal the whole length of the animal, independent of the 

 tail fin. The upper jaw is somewhat longer than the lower ; and 

 the teeth, which appear in the latter, are conical, curved, and 

 hollow towards the roots. The eyes are extremely small. The 



