136 
corning on, prevented Marten from as¬ 
certaining the result of this direful com¬ 
bat : but he was informed by the sailors 
that the whale was generally vanquish¬ 
ed ; and that they kept aloof till such 
time as the saw fish, eating the tongue, 
relinquished the carcase, which they 
made their prey. 
A species of crab, vulgarly called the 
whale-louse, the Oniscus Ceti of Fabri- 
cius, if not the most dangerous, is per¬ 
haps the most troublesome of the whale’s 
enemies. We scarcely took any whales 
but had one or two of these vermin fas¬ 
tened to them. The Oniscus Ceti is about 
the size of a small crab, and is covered 
with remarkably hard scales. Head si¬ 
milar to that of the Pediculus Humanus , 
with four horns, two of which serve as 
feelers ; the other two are hard, curved, 
and serve as clinchers to fix the animal 
to the whale. Underneath its chest, the 
Oniscus has two carvers, like scythes. 
