2 Marvels of the Universe 
an ample subsistence on the small crustacea known as Euphausia, or Unarmed Rhoda, and a 
nearly related species which is eagerly hunted during August. But even more remarkable is 
the case of Rudolph’s Rorqual, a species which attains a length of some fiftysfeet, which is said 
to subsist entirely on crustacea, not only of the species already named, but on the much smaller 
Finmarch’s Calanus, and the still more minute Long-horned Temora, shown in our illustrations. 
No less wonderful is the case of the huge Greenland Whale, which feeds mainly, if not entirely, 
on minute surface-swimming animals ; and especially the pteropod mollusc known as Clione limacina, 
which, during life, is of bright purple colour. That creatures so huge should be able to subsist on 
the bodies of animals so minute as those shown in our illustrations seems incredible. And, indeed, 
it would not be possible were it not for 
the fact that these creatures swarm in the 
sea in such vast quantities as to be almost 
beyond human conception. But almost 
more wonderful still is the very existence 
of these creatures in such swarms; the 
power of multiplication which they 
display is unparalleled in the animal 
kingdom. It seems incredible that they 
could withstand such appalling inroads 
on their ranks. Yet, when we come to 
reflect upon the matter, we cannot 
resist the conviction that the very exist- 
ence of these giants of the deep is to be 
traced to the presence of these feeble 
folk. In earlier times there were no 
whale-bone whales, and their becoming 
is to be traced to Nature’s effort to 
relieve competition among the earlier- 
made, tooth-bearing whales by trans- 
forming some in such a way that they 
should be able to avail themselves of 
this superabundant food-supply. The 
truth of this view is shown by the fact 
, 
A NORWEGIAN “SHEE” that these whalebone, or ‘ Baleen’ 
It swarms in fairly deep water in many parts of our seas, andforms bearing Whales were once on a _ time 
(ee ne te Gino aime) Wale Wiss: for cen wodey the 
dark room a tap on the glass will cause a flash of phosphorescent lights | Vestiges of teeth are to be found in the 
like a row of tiny lamps along the sides of the body. jaws, though they not only never cut 
the gum, but disappear before birth. The history of the origin of whalebone has yet to be traced. 
The best, that is to say the most elastic, is that obtained from the “ Right Whales ’—the Green- 
land, or Arctic Right Whale of the Polar Seas, and the North Atlantic Right Whale, the South 
Atlantic Right Whale and the North Pacific Right Whale. But according to some authorities 
these are all but geographical varieties of a single, widespread species. But be this as it may, 
these Whales differ conspicuously from the Rorquals, and especially in this matter of the whale- 
bone, the longest blades of which may measure as much as twelve feet long. 
But during the course of ages a change seems to have overtaken all the Whales in the matter 
of their food ; for among what are known as the “‘ Toothed Whales ”’ many are practically toothless, 
as the Bottle-nosed Whale for example. The huge Sperm Whale, or Cachalot, has lost all the 
teeth in the upper jaw, but has retained a row of conical pegs in the lower jaw. These 
