APPENDIX. 557 



acute sensations of touch are required, such parts 

 are covered by a thick cuticle ; of this the ends of 

 our fingers, toes, and the foot of the hoofed ani- 

 mals, are remarkable examples. Whether this 

 sense is more acute in water, I am not certain, 

 but should imagine it is. 



The tongue, which is the organ of taste, is also 

 endowed with the sense of touch. It is likewise 

 to be considered, in the greatest number of ani- 

 mals, as an instrument for mechanical purposes; 

 but probably less so in this tribe than any other. 

 However, even in these, it must have been formed 

 with this view, since, merely as an organ of taste, 

 it would only have required surface, yet is a pro- 

 jecting body, endowed with motion. In the 

 Spermaceti Whale the tongue is almost like a fea- 

 ther-bed. In the Piked Whale it is but gently 

 raised, having hardly any lateral e<]ges, and its 

 tip projecting but little, yet, like every other 

 tongue, composed of muscle and fat. 



The tongue of the large Whalebone Whale, I 

 should suppose, rose in the mouth considerably ; 

 the two jaws at the middle being kept at such a 

 distance on account of the whalebone, so that the 

 space between, when the mouth is shut, must be 

 filled up by the tongue. 



In this tribe of animals there is something very 

 remarkable in what relates to the sense of smell- 

 ing; nor have I been able to discover the particu- 

 lar mode by which it is performed. In many 

 of this tribe there is no organ of smell at all; 

 and in those which have such an organ, it is -not 



