REMARKS. 
21 
which was nearest or most convenient to him at the 
moment of attack — neither have I ever heard them make 
use of a single observation to confirm such an assertion,, 
But if the great Baron Cuvier and his no less learned 
brother, have both been so much misled in the histories 
which they have given of the manners and habits of the 
sperm whale, it has arisen from the many difficulties 
they have had to deal with, in endeavouring to unravel 
the inextricable veil in which the true history of this 
animal has been wrapped by a multitude of writers, 
who have themselves either wilfully misrepresented the 
nature of this creature, with which they have pretended 
to be acquainted, or who have depended upon the 
accounts of old voyagers, who have delighted in mixing 
fiction with truth, that miracles and wonders of all kinds 
might appear to have been their constant companions* 
Yet long ago, the powerful and scrutinizing mind of the 
Baron began to perforate the mist which hung over this 
branch of natural history ; for we find him throwing out 
the following suspicions, which serve to shew the nature 
of his real opinion, upon the various accounts which 
surrounded him on the number of species of the cacha- 
lot. “ Are there / 5 he inquires, u any cachalots with an 
elevated dorsal fin ? Are there any with the spiracles 
pierced on the forehead, on the middle of the head? 
Are there any in which the branches of the lower jaw 
are not joined for most of their length in a cylindrical 
symphysis ?” 
We are proud in being enabled, thus far, to confirm 
the suspicions of Cuvier, and to finish these humble 
