92 SULPHVR-BOTTOM WHALE 



SOUTHEAST WING 



Mammals of thk World 



Proceeding east from the luill wlicre are the apes and monkeys, we 



pass the elevators, to enter the hall of the Southeast Wing, devoted mainly 



to the Principal Families of Mammals and their Evolution in Past Ages. 



The exhibits read like the pages of a book from left to right, being arranged 



to bring out the phylogeny or past history and development 

 Mammals of ^ ^i i • p i- • -^ a ^ n^\ 



th W Id cniei divisions or mammals, ihe specimens are 



arranged not on shelves but close against the background 

 of the case on small projecting supports and from each a cord has been 

 stretched down along the background to a diagrammatic representation 

 of the geological periods. In this way are indicated the relationships of 

 the various animals to one another as well as the geological age in which 

 each animal probably originated. Circling the hall above the cases is a 

 mural frieze representing marine scenes, which serves as a background for 

 groups of porpoises, dolphins and other small members of the whale family. 

 The most striking object in the hall is the life-size model of a sulphur- 

 bottom whale, seventy-nine feet in length. The original of this specimen 



was captured in Newfoundland and the model is accurately 

 Model of reproduced from careful measurements. This huge creature 



, ., is not only the largest of living animals, but, so far as we 



Whale know, the largest animal that has ever lived: A specimen 



of this size weighs from sixty to seventy tons, about twice as 

 much as Brontosaurus. As can be seen by examining the models of a whale's 

 head attached to the pillar, the whalebone which takes the place of teeth 

 hangs in great plates from the inside of the upper jaw. This whalebone 

 acts as a strainer in the mouth of the whale and extracts the small animals 

 from the sea w^ater which the whale takes into his mouth when feeding. 

 The food consists mostly of tiny crustaceans less than an inch in length. 

 Although whales and porpoises live in the water they are not fishes, but 

 are warm-blooded and breathe by means of lungs, not gills. The whale 

 must come to the surface to breathe and the so-called "spouting" is merely 

 the result of the warm air being expelled from the lungs when he breathes. 

 A whale does not spout water as is commonly' supposed. IModels to scale 

 of the other whalebone whales, and the toothed sperm whale, and skeletons 

 of the smaller whales are hung near for comparison. 



The plans for the next addition to the ]\Iuseum building include a large 

 hall to contain whales and other marine animals. 



In the railing cases are exhibits which aim to give the visitor a general 

 view of the enormous Class of Insects. This series is, at present, being 

 rearranged and improved. When finished, it will include representatives 



