156 
GREENLAND VOYAGE. 
the weight of the animal 5 tons'within a cubic 
foot. 
One of the largest mysticete, of 60 feet in 
length,—the head 20 feet in length, by 12 feet in 
diameter,—the middle section 6 feet by 13 dia¬ 
meter,—the third section 26 feet in length, by 
12 and 2 feet diameter, will appear, (if calculated 
the same way, with an allowance of five tons for 
the fins and tail,) to be of the prodigious weight 
of 114 tons! But as the last section is some¬ 
what more slender than the body to which it is 
referred, this calculation may be a little in excess. 
The largest animals of this species may, however, 
I conceive, be safely stated at a hundred tons in 
weight; and an ordinary full grown animal, at 
seventy tons! 
The most useful and ennobling view of natural 
history is unquestionably that which gives us the 
most exalted conceptions of the wisdom, goodness, 
and power of the Creator. And the branch of 
this science, that is in the highest degree calcu¬ 
lated to assist us in tracing “ the works of Nature 
up to Nature’s God,” is probably the physiology 
of animals. In every genus of animals, we discover. 
peculiar marks of adaptation for their economy or 
mode of life; and an endless variety of inimitable 
contrivances for accomplishing this adaptation. 
The whale, which is a mammiferous animal, and 
