198 BaljEnid^. MAMMALIA. Bal^kidas. 
Fajiily I. — BAL.5!lNIDiE. 
This family consists of the true whales, which are 
distinguished from the cachalots, the dolphins, and the 
herbivorous cetacea, by the possession of plates of 
whalebone, or more properly baleen, depending from 
the palatal region of the upper jaw. They have no true 
teeth, although, as we have seen, there are tooth-sacs 
developed in the lower jaw of the embryonic mysticete. 
The true whales are further recognized by their prepos- 
terously large heads, which in some of the species 
extend to one-third of the entire length of the body. 
The nostrils are distinct and longitudinally disposed on 
the crown of the head. The mammary glands are 
placed in the inguinal region — an arrangement which 
also obtains in the cachalots and dolphins. The 
intestine is furnished with a ccecum. 
The Mysticete {Balcena mysticetus), or common 
Whalebone whale — Plate 28, fig. 89 — is also known as 
the Greenland whale, and in Dr. Gray’s catalogue of 
the Cetacea preserved in the British Museum it is called 
the Eight whale — this term being also applied to the 
Cape whale {Balcena australis) by the South Sea 
whalers. Our best accounts of the Greenland whale are 
all more or less derived from the Eev. Dr. Scoresby’s 
“Journal of a Voyage to the Northern Whale-fishery,” 
and from a paper in the first volume of the Wernerian 
Society’s Transactions, from which the following de- 
scription is abridged. When full groAvn this species is 
from fifty to sixty-five feet in length, and from thirty to 
forty in circumference, immediately before the fins. It 
is thickest a little behind the fins, and from thence gra- 
dually tapers towards the tail, and slightly towards the 
neck. It is cylindrical from the neck, until near 
about the junction of the tail and the 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 are 
from twenty to twenty-five feet in length, and the space 
between them is about ten feet from side to side. The 
tongue is of great size, and yields upwards of a ton 
of oil ; and the lips, which are placed at right angles to 
the flat part of the base of the head, yield fully double 
that amount. The palatal laminae of baleen are not 
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. On each side of the mouth are about two 
hundred laminae of whalebone. They are not perfectly 
flat; for, besides the longitudinal curvature, they are 
curved transversely. The largest laminae are from ten 
to fourteen feet in length, very rarely fifteen feet. The 
breadth of the largest at the thick ends, or where they 
are attached to the jaw, is about a foot. The Green- 
land fishers estimate the size of the whale by the length 
of the whalebone; and when the baleen is six feet 
long, then the whale is said to be a size fish. In 
suckers, or young whales still under the protection of 
the mother, the whalebone is only a few inches long. 
It is immediately covered by the imder lips, the edge 
of which, when the mouth is shut, overlap the upper | 
part. The colour of the hide is black, grey, and white, 
with a tinge of yellow about the loAver part of the head. 
The back, upper region of the head, most of the belly, 
the fins, tail, and part of the under jaw, are deep velvet- 
black. The anterior aspect of the lower jaw, and a 
portion of the abdomen are white ; the narrow portion 
near the junction of the tail being greyish. The skin 
of suckers has a pale bluish tint. The cuticle or scarf- 
skin is only as thick as ordinary parchment, whilst the 
true skin is from three-fourths to an inch in thickness 
all over the body. The Greenland whale is not pro- 
vided with a dorsal fin. The flippers, which are situated 
about two feet behind the angle of the jaws, measure 
nine feet in length, and rather more than half the same 
amount in breadth. The tail is compressed, semilunate, 
notched at the centre, and sometimes as much as 
twenty feet in breadth. 
Notwithstanding the many exaggerated statements to 
the contrary, the Greenland whale seldom or ever exceeds 
fifty-eight or sixty feet in length. It is a slow swimmer, 
going at the rate of four miles an hour, though when har- 
pooned, it is said to dive perpendicularly downwards at a 
speed of seven knots an hour. It occasionally ascends 
Avith sufficient force to throw itself entirely out of the 
Avater. It seldom remains submerged longer than 
tAventy or thirty minutes, and Avhen it rises again to the 
surface, it Avill remain there about the same time if not 
disturbed. In calm weather it is Avont to sleep in this 
situation. One of the most moving and painful sights 
Avhich can be imagined, is Avitnessed when the Avhale- 
fisher strikes a sucker, in order to secure its dam ; 
A\diilst to say nothing of the unnecessary cruelty, it is 
more than probable that this inhuman practice entails 
serious injury to the fishery business, by greatly dimin- 
ishing the chances of future success. According to the 
testimonj' of Scoresby, “ the young is frequently sti'uck 
for the sake of its mother, which will soon come up close 
by it, encourage it to swim off, assist it by taking it under 
its fin, and seldom deserts it while life remains. It is 
then very dangerous to approach, as she loses all 
regard for her OAvn safety in anxiety for the preserva- 
tion of her cub, dashing about most violently, and not 
dreading to rise even amidst the boats. Except, 
hoAvever, Avhen the Avhale has young to protect, the 
male is in general more active and dangerous than 
the female.” The period of gestation is believed to 
extend over a space of about ten months. In addition 
to its poAverful and relentless human adversary, the 
Mysticete has to contend Avith other enemies, such as 
the shark, the thrasher, and the SAVord-fish. It is itself, 
hoAvever, a great destroyer of life ; its principal food 
consisting of shoals of a small pteropodous mollusc, spe- 
cifically known as the Clio borealis. Although the 
aperture of the throat is scarcely sufficient to admit the 
introduction of an ordinary hen’s egg, yet to satisfy so 
prodigious a bulk of body, it is! evident that myriads of 
these little creatures must go to form a single meal — 
and if so, Avhat must be the annual consumption of this 
huge monster of the deep? Well may Mr. Darwin 
argue that, for every animal Avhich passes through a full 
cycle of its life, ten thousand perish ere they have 
reached maturity! Into details respecting the perils 
encountered by those embarked m the whale fishery, 
