ON THE GREENLAND WHALE. 579 



about the junction of the tail and body, where it 

 becomes ridged. 



The head has a triangular shape. The bones 

 of the head are very porous, and full of a fine 

 kind of oil. When the oil is drained out, the 

 bone is so light as to swim in water. The jaw- 

 bones, the most striking portions of the head, are 

 from 20 to 25 feet in length, are curved, and the 

 space between them is 9 or 10 feet, by 18 or 20. 

 They give shape to the under part of the head, 

 which is almost perfectly flat, and is about 20 feet 

 in length, by 12 in breadth. The tongue is of 

 great size, and yields a ton or more of oil. The 

 lips, which are at right angles to the flat part of 

 the base of the head, are firm and hard, and yield 

 about two tons of oil. 



To the upper jaw is attached the substance 

 called whalebone, which is straight in some indi- 

 viduals, and in others convex. The laminae or 

 blades are not all of equal length ; neither are the 

 largest exactly in the middle of the series, but 

 somewhat nearer the throat ; from this point they 

 become gradually shorter each way. In each side 

 of the mouth are about 200 laminae of whalebone. 

 They are not perfectly flat ; for besides the longi- 

 tudinal curvature already mentioned, they arc 

 curved transversly. The largest laminae are from 

 10 to 14 feet in length, very rarely 15 feet in 

 length. The breadth of the largest at the thick 

 ends, or where they are attached to the jaw, is 

 about a foot. The Greenland fishers estimate thq 



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