HISTORY 
OP 
THE WHALE. 
t 
The whale is not only the largest fish, but he is 
the largest animal in the world. A large whale is 
twenty times as big as an elephant. According to 
indications afforded by notches in the whale-bone, 
which seem not, however, very fully established, the 
whale does not attain his full growth under twenty- 
five years, and is supposed to reach a very great age. 
The oleaginous substance, or blubber, the most 
valuable part of the animal, forms a complete wrapper 
round the whole body, of the thickness of from eight 
to twenty inches. 
The head of the whale is about one third the 
length of the animal, and the open mouth displays a 
frightful chasm. The jaw-bones are from sixteen to 
eighteen inches in length, and extend along the mouth 
in a curved line, till they meet and form a kind of 
crescent. The lips, nearly twenty feet long, show, 
when open, a cavity capable of receiving a ship’s 
jolly-boat, with her crew. The tongue is almost im- 
movably fixed to the lower jaw, seeming one great 
lump of fat ; and, in fact, it fills several hogsheads 
with blubber. The tail is twentv-four feet broad: 
