Great Exhibition o/1851. 141 



The final purpose of this singular armature of the upper jaw of 

 the great whales, is to secure the capture and retention of the 

 small floating molluscs and crustaceans, which serve principally 

 as their food. When the capacious mouth is opened, the water 

 rushes in, and is strained through the fringed surface of the roof 

 and sides, whilst the small animals are retained, bruised against 

 the stiff bristled margins of the plates, and swallowed. 



Baleen, or whalebone, from its tenacity, flexibility, elasticity, 

 compactness, and lightness, is applied to a great variety of useful 

 purposes. These were well exemplified in the collection exhibited 

 under No. 103, by Mr Henry Horan, which shewed well-selected 

 examples of whalebone plates from the Arctic whale (Balcena mys- 

 ticetus), which yields the largest and best kind ; from the Antarctic ■ 

 whale (Balcena Australis), which affords the second best kind; and 

 from the great finner whale (Balamoptera hoops), which affords 

 the shortest and coarsest plates. With these examples of the raw 

 material, Mr Horan exhibited specimens of the raw material in 

 various states of preparation, and numerous and ingenious appli- 

 cations of the prepared baleen, dyed of different colours, as, e.g., 

 for covering whip-handles, walking-sticks, and telescopes, and in 

 the form of shavings for plaiting, like straws, in the construction 

 of light hats and bonnets. An excellent and instructive series of 

 preparations of baleen was also exhibited by Messrs Westall, in 

 which was more especially deserving notice the great variety of 

 filamentary modifications of the whalebone material for numerous 

 useful applications. Fine blades of whalebone from the Baloena 

 mysticetus were exhibited in the United States department, under 

 No. 531, by Mr L. Goddard, and characteristic specimens of baleen 

 plates from the Balcena Australis had been transmitted by Mr G. 

 Moses from Van Diemen's Land. 



3. Ivory. — The same considerations necessarily limited the func- 

 tions of our jury, in regard to the tusks of animals presenting the 

 modification of dental substances to which the term "ivory" is 

 applied. Fine ivory, distinguished by the decussating curved 

 lines on the surfaces of transverse fractions or sections of the tusk, 

 is peculiar to the African and Asiatic elephants, amongst existing 

 quadrupeds ; and the best is obtained from the wild individuals ; 

 domestication of the elephant, in India at least, having been 

 attended usually by deterioration of the length and quality of the 

 tusks. 



The finest specimens of elephant tusks sent to the Great Ex- 

 hibition were a pair weighing 325 pounds, from the Elephas 

 Africanus, obtained from an animal killed near the newly- dis- 

 covered Lake Ngami, in South Africa. Each tusk measured 8 

 feet 6 inches in length, and 22 inches in basal circumference. A 

 single tusk weighing 110 pounds, from the same locality, was 



