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element; but, v\ hen the thin fcart-fkin is-removed, a black 
fpot is difcovered behind the eye, and under that is the 
.auditory canal, that leads to aa-egular apparatus for hear¬ 
ing. in fhort, the animal hears the (mailed founds at 
very great dilfances, and at all times, except when it is 
(pouting water; which is the time that the fifliers ap¬ 
proach to ftrike it. What is called whalebone, adheres to 
the upper jaw ; and is formed of thin parallel laminae, 
.fome of the longeii four yards in length ; of thefe there 
axe commonly 330 on each fide, but in very eld fidi more; 
-about 500 of them are of a length fit for ufe, the others 
■being too fhort. They are furrounded with ftrong hair, 
not only that they may not hurt the tongue, but as drain¬ 
ers to prevent the return of their food when they dif- 
charge the water out of their mouths. The real bones of 
the whale are hard, porous, and full of marrow. Two 
large, bones fuftain the upper lip, lying againd each other 
in the diape of an half-moon. The tail is broad and femi- 
lunar; and, when the fifh lies on one fide, its blow is tre¬ 
mendous. The tail alone it makes ufe of to advance it¬ 
felf forward in the water ; and it is furprifing to fee with 
what force and celerity its enormous bulk cuts through 
the ocean. The fins are only made ufe of for turning in 
the water, and giving a direction to the velocity imprelfed 
by the tail. The female alfo makes ufe of them, when 
.purfued, to bear od' her young, clapping them on her 
l)ack, and fupporting them by the fins on each fide from 
falling. The whale varies in colour; the back of fome 
being red, the belly generally white. Others are black, 
fome mottled, others quite white; according to the obfer- 
vation of Martin, who fays, that their colours in the water 
are extremely beautiful, and that their fkin is very fmooth 
and flippery. The outward or fcarf-fkin of the whale is 
no thicker than parchment; but, this removed, the real 
.fkin appears, of about an inch thick, and covering the fat 
or blubber that lies beneath ; this is from eight to twelve 
inches in thicknefs; and is, when the fifii is in health, of 
a beautiful yellow. The muffles lie beneath ; and thefe, 
Tike the flelh of quadrupeds, are very red and tough. The 
-penis is eight feet in length, inclofed in a ftrong-(heath. 
The teats in the female are placed in the lower part of 
the belly. In copulation, the female joins with the male, 
as is alferted, more humane, and once in two years feels the 
accedes of defire. Their fidelity to each other exceeds 
whatever we are told of, even the condancy of birds. An- 
derfon, a celebrated whale-fifher, informs 11s, that having 
(iruck one of two whales, a male and a female, that were 
in company together, the wounded bfli made a long and 
terrible reddance : it druck down a boat with three men 
in it with a (ingle blow of its tail, by which all went to 
the bottom. The other dill attended its companion, and 
lent it every adidance ; till, at lad, the dlh that w'as druck 
funk under the number of its wounds ; while its faithful 
adociate, difdaining to furvive the lofs, with great bel-' 
lowing, dretched itfelf upon the dead d(h, and (hared his 
fate. The whale goes with young nine or ten months, 
and is then fatter than ufual, particularly when near the 
time of bringing forth. It is laid that the embryo, when 
fird perceptible., is about feventeen inches long, and white; 
but the cub, when excluded, is black, and about ten feet 
long. She generally produces one young one, and never 
.more than two. When (he fuckles her young, (he throws 
herfelf on one fide on the furface of the fea, and the young 
one attaches itfelf to the teat. Nothing can exceed the 
tendernefs of the female for her offspring ; (he carries it 
with her wherever (he goes, and, when purfued, keeps it 
fupported betw'een her fins. Even when wounded, die 
(till clafps her young one; and, when die plunges to avoid 
danger, takes it to the bottom ; but rifes fooner tiian ufual, 
to give it breath again. The young ones continue at the 
ibread for a year; during which time they are called by 
the failors Jhort-heads. They are then extremely fat, and 
yield above fifty barrels of blubber. The mother at the 
lame time is equally lean and emaciated. At the age of 
tw o years they are calledyfo/zT, as they do not thrive much 
immediately after quitting the bread; they then yield 
fcarcely above twenty or twenty-four barrels erf blubber - 
from that time forward they are called Mu-fi/h, and then- 
age is wholly unknown. ; 
Every fpecies of whale propagates only with thole of 
its own Jtind, and does not mingle at all with the red: 
however, they are generally feen in fiioals, of different 
kinds together, and make their migrations in large compa¬ 
nies from one ocean to another. They are gregarious ani¬ 
mals; which implies their want of mutual defence againd 
the invafions of fmaller, but more powerful, fifites. It 
feems afionifiiing, therefore, how a dioal of thefe enormous 
animals find fubfidence together, when it would feem that 
the fupplying even one with food would require greater 
plenty than the ocean could furnifh'. To increale our 
wonder, we not only fee them herding together, but ufu- 
ally find them fatter than any other animals of whatfoever 
element. We likevvife know that they cannot (wallow 
large fidies, as their throat is fo narrow, that an animal 
larger than a herring could not enter. How then do they 
Inbfid and grow fo fat ? A certain fort of (mall fnail, or 
(as Linnaeus fays) the medufa, or fea-blubber, is fufiicient 
for this lupply. Content with this fimple food, it pur- 
fues no other animal, leads an inodenfive life in its ele¬ 
ment, and is hannlefs in proportion to its ftrens:th to 
do mifehief. V 0 
As the whale is an inodenfive animal, it is not to be 
wondered that it has many enemies, willing to take advan¬ 
tage of its difpolition and inaptitude for combat. There 
is a fmall animal, of the fliell-fidi kind, called the whale, 
loufe, that dicks to its body, as we fee fiiells dicking to 
the bottom of a foul (hip. This infinuates itfelf chiefly 
under the fins; and, whatever ed'orts the great animal 
makes, it dill keeps its hold, and lives upon the fat. But 
the fword-fidi is the whale’s mod formidable enemy. “ At 
the fight of this little animal,” fays Anderfon, “the whale 
feems agitated in an extraordinary manner; leaping from 
the water as if with adright : wherever it appears, the 
whale perceives it at a didance, and dies from it in the 
oppolite direClion. I have been myfelf,” continues he, 
“ a fpeflator of their terrible encounter. The whale has 
no infirument of defence except the tail; with that it en¬ 
deavours to firike the enemy; and a fingle blow taking 
place would effectually dedroy its adverdiry : but th| 
fword-fi(h is as aClive as the other is drong, and eafily' 
avoids the firoke; then, bounding into the air, it falls up¬ 
on its great fubjacent enemy, and endeavours not to pierce 
it with its pointed beak, but to cut it with its toothed 
edges. The fea all about it is feen dyed with blood, pro¬ 
ceeding from the wounds of the whale ; while the enor¬ 
mous animal vainly endeavours to reach its invader, and 
drikes with its tail againd the furface of the water, ma¬ 
king a report at each blow louder than the noife of a can¬ 
non.” In calm weather, the filhermen lie upon their oars 
as fpeclators of this combat, until they perceive the whale 
at the lad: gafp : then they row towards him ; and, his ene¬ 
my retiring at their approach, they enjoy the fruits of the 
viftory. This account, however, is different in feveral re- 
fpeCts from that commonly given by feamen; who report, 
that a dlh called the thrcjhcr (a fpecies of Squalus) is 
in league with the fword-fi(h ; and that the former keeps 
on the back of the whale, while the latter wounds it under¬ 
neath in the belly, which occafions him to rife to the furface 
of the water, and to give the threflier an opportunity of af- 
fifting in the combat. This he does by throwing himfelf 
into an ereft pofture ; and, like a boy tumbling neck over 
heels, falls down with adonilhing force on the back of his 
prey : and thus they go on till the poor whale is defiroyed. 
The grampus, and other large fidies of the cetaceous or¬ 
der, are attacked and defiroyed in a fimilar manner. Tin; 
whale has another defperate enemy, a kind of (hark, in 
fize from one to three fathoms; fo voracious, that it tears 
large pieces of flefii from the whale, as if they had been 
dug with (hovels. 
To view thele animals in a commercial light, we mud 
obferve. 
