OF THE CACHALOTS 
Section III. 
Gen. Ill, The Cachalot , 
T he fillies of this genus are not of fuch an enormous 
fize as thofe laft defcribed : They are, when full grown, 
from fifty to fixty feet long, and Gxteen feet in thicknefs. 
Their heads are ftill more difproportioned to th.e fize of 
the body, than that of the common whale : in the latter 
animal it is equal to a third of the body ; in the for- 
mer it conftitutes an half. The cachalots are diftinguilh- 
ed from all the other cetaceous tribes, by having (harp ar- 
cuated teeth in the lower jaw ; Their bodies being more 
(lender, they are more aftivc than the Greenland whale ; 
are capable of remaining longer at the bottom ; and yield 
s fmaller quantity of oil. The tongue is commonly 
fmall, but the mouth and throat are fo capacious that the 
animal could eafily fwallow an ox*. The teeth are about 
feven inches long, exceedingly thick and hard ; they en- 
ter, when the mouth is fliut, into a number of cavities 
in the upper jaw prepared for their reception f. 
This 
* Goldfmith’s Nat. Hift. 
t Britiih ZoqL Clafs iv. Gen. %* 
