Sharp County record., 1878-12-19
THE RECORD.
J.W. BUCKLEY, Publisher.
EVENING SHADE, : ARKANSAS
ATALK ABOUT WHALES.

The whale is Ino hoHdICn vi IhO
ep. and in regard to dimensions, the
of creation, all animals sink
o into insignifcence when brought
to Z comparison with his enormous size;
be common whale seldom exceeds 70 !
et in length, and is much more fire.
nentlv under go. Two specimens OF |
,e roroual or razor-back whale have
cen observed that measured 10 feet IN
moth One of these was found floating
feIess in Davis Straits, and the other
|, Columbia River. One cast on the
hore at North Berwick, Scotland, and
reserved by DR.. Knox, was 90 1eeV
n length. Some extrayagant stories
ave been told in olden times in regard
O the length of whales. Baron Cuvier!'
he eminent naturalist, says; "Ihere is
40 doubt that whales have been at GER
ain epochs and in certain seas upwards
Of 800 feet long"
The whale has long been an object OF
nmercial pursuit, and it is surprising
so little is generally known OF his
ral history. Whales are warm
Old, their temperature rising very
Varably above that OF the surround
annr. They breathe, as does man,
S+otG the larynx has the form OF a
state when the whale is breathing,
pOrts,to the cavity of the posterlor
to be re it is met and embraced by
throuos of the palate, and thus a
is opened through the nos
By tie lungs direct to the exter-
banks augh at the same time the
o md mouth may be under
lawful iget rid of the water which
yer dollaIe mouth the whale per-
money. thf deglutition, but at the
no4aO es the pharynx to pre-,
hoVes aogs ge of the water beyond
reserve point. By these means
Greenblp the nasal passages, and
Ouor o1 contraction of the muscles
- parts is finally expelled in
The Vater which rises 10 some
,no oo,,is termed "blowing" In
arc oohal anatomy they present
addreserfect agreement with man
bv thehals of quadrupeds. They
Thew clhambered heart, this be-
-. = type of heart that we
SlSteTS u., animal series; and in
are talkll brain structure and of
only mean the whales present a
Al IL .
further i'm, to the the apadrupedS,
upon the slparisep with the ' sizaI
pate in the ap 4 ing one-third,| |
pose, theYw The size of the|
alive, arter gess..1S.----9..las her younf
and they are nourished with MIN. INT
strong attachment existing between thu
mother whale and her offspring, and thu
devoted protection extended by th'
former to the latter, are matters of com
mon knowledge, familiar to all wit
have read accounts of whaling expedi
tions. Instances are known where tn
mother whale has sacrificed her lif
rather than leave her young. The ar
rangement of the baleen or whalebon
in the right whale is very peculiar.
strong, long keel runs along the cente
of the palate, on each side Of which is
very broad depression, along whic
the plates of baleen are attached. Thes
are long and fiat, and the largest mea:
ure from ten to twelve feet in lengt
and are attached to the palate by thei
bases, hanging down into the mouth
From these being placed transverselJ
their sides are parallel and at a yer
small distance from each other, tn
base of each, as well as the outer edgt
being composed of solid whalebont
while the inner edge terminates in
filament of fibers which fill up the whol
interior of the mouth across it.
The object of this is entirely owing t
the arrangement of the stomach of tn
whale, which is so small in compariso
with his great bulk that his food cor
sists only of the small or minute an
mails, allied to jelly fishes aud the like
a herring being the largest fish he ca
swallow. To procure his prey he
thus obliged to engulf whole shoal i
his capacious mouth at once. The wate
is then strained off and poured throug
the blow-holes, while the animal ca
pass his diminutive prey into tn
esophagus as he requires. 1t may b
thus sef n that the whalebone plate
serve as a kind of gigantic sieve @
strainer. These plates generally nun
ber about 600. The sperm whales POI
sess no whalebone plates. With an ig
norance of science which now is laugh
able even to our children, who kno'
that the material for stays and hoops
taken from the mouth, the law in tn
time of Charles II. appropriated the ia
of every whale taken by an Engli-
subject to the use of the Queen for tn
supply of the royal wardrobe. Tn
covering of the whales body consist
typically of hairs, and not of scales, a
thouoh this hOdv-cOVprinp is hut snarst