The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1878-12-20

4 Talk About Whales.
Thomas ;. Bowdith in the Troy Times.
The whale is the monarch OF the deep
aud, in regard to dimensions, the mon
arch of creation, all animals shrinking
into insignificsnce when brought into
com parisOn with his enormous size. The
common whale seldom exceeds seventy
feet in length, and is much more fire.
quently under sixty. Two specimens of
the roIqual or razor-bsck whale hsve
been observed that measured l25 feet in
length. One of these was found floating
liieleas in Davis Straits and the other in
Columbia River One cast on the shore
st North Berwick, Scotland, and pre-
served by DIR. Knox, was eighty~three
feet in length. Some extravagant stories
nave been told in olden times in regard
to the length of whales. Baron Culver,
the eminent naturalist says: There Is
doubt that whales have heen at certsin
epochs and IN certain seas upward of
800 eet long"
The whale has been an object Of cons
mercial pursuit, and it is surprising that
so little Is generally known of his natu raj
history. Whales are warm-booded, the II
temperature rising very considerably
above that of the surrounding water.
They breathe, as does man, by lungs the
l2rynx has the form of 8 cone, and when
the whale Is breathing, projects into the
cavity OF the pOsterior mares, where il is
met and embraced by the muscles of
the palate, and thus free passage IS
opened through the nOstrils from the
lungs direct to the external air, although
aG the same time the whole head ard
mouth may be under water.
In order TO get rid of the water which
Is taken into he mouth. the whale per-
forms the act OF deglutition, but at the
same time closes the pharynx to prevent
the passage of the water beyond the
necessary point. BY these means it is
forced up the nasal passages, and by a
sudden contraction IF the muscles about
these parts it Is finally expelled IN let
Of water which rises TO some height, al
is termed Z" blowing" In their iaternal
anatomy they present features of perfect
agreement with man and all mammals of
qusdrupeds They have a four.chsms
bered heart, this being the highest type
OF heart that we meet with in the animal
series and in respect of their brain struc-
ture and of other characters, the whales
present a close resem blance to The quad
rupeds. The head of the whale is dis
9pOrtionately large in comparison vi h
the size of the body, generally being one
third, and sometimes ene-half, the size of
the latter. The female produces her
young alive, after q CESSATION of nine
months, and they are nOurished with
milk. The strong attachment existing
between the mother whale and her Oft
spring, and the devoted protection ex-
tended by the former TO the latter. are
matters of common knowledge, familiar
10 all who have read accounts OF whaling
expeditions. Instances are known where
the mother whale has sacrificed her lie
rather than leave her young. The
arrangement of the baleen or whalebOne
in the right whale Is very peculiar. A
strong, long keel runs along the center OF
the palate, on each side of which is q
broad depression, along which the plates
of baleen are attached. These are long
and fiat, and the largest measures Irom
ten TO twelve feet in length, and are
attached to the palate by their bases.
hanging down into the mouth. From
these being placed transversely, their
sides are parallel and st a very short dis
tanee from each other, the base OF e en-.
as well as the outer edge, being composed
of whalebone, while the inner edge ter.
inmates in q 6lament of fibres which hll
up the whole interior ofthe mouth across
it.
TIE object of this is entirely owing t.
the arrangement of the stomach OF the
whale, which is so small in comparison
with his great bulk that his food con-
sists only of the small or minute animals,
allied to the Jelly fishes and the Ike i
herring being the lsIgest fish he can
swallow. To procure his prey he IS thus
obliged to inguif whole shoal IN his
capacious mouth at once. The waite IS
then strained off and poured through ne
blow-holes, while the animal can ass
his diminu i've prey into the aesoPhs gus
as he requires. 1t may be thus seen hat
the whaiebone plates serve az ku12-of
generally number about 600. The sperm
whale possesses no whalebone Plates.
With an ignorance of science, which now
is laughable even to our children, no
know that the material for STAYS nd
hoops is taken from the mouth, the Nv
in the time of Charles II. Appropriated
the tail Of every whale taken by an Eng
lish subject to the use of the Queen for
the supply of the royal wardrobe. TAe
covering of the whales body consists
typically of hairs, and Lot of scales.
although this body-covsring is but
scarcely or not at all developed.
Historians in general have given the
Basques or Biscavand the credit of
having first practiced the whale fishery
but in the ninth century Alfred the
Great, to whom England is indebted for
the foundation of her naval establish
ments, listened to the tales of Octber
a Norwegian, who related the adven.
lures of voyage along the coast of Nor
way so far north as commonly the
whale hunters do travel, /" and told tbot
he "was one of six that killed sirtv
whales in two days, of which some were
forty eight, some fifty yards long"
This incident is believed to be The
earliest historical notice of the subiuoa.
ton of this monarch of the sea In fbe
uses of man. The whales of Octoba-
were whoppers, and their size is beyond
comparison with any found in presant
times. 1t was not until the seventeenth
century that the whale fishery ENGAGED
the Maritime Nations of Europe g on
important branch of commerce. The
frst person that is recorded to have killed
a whale among the people Of this country
Is one William Hamilton. O Ma.
sachasetts, somewhere between 1870 and
1870 w. Scoresby, F. r. S., in = lectn-a
at the London Institution, stated tbot
whales are known to descend narno1,
dicularly from 1920 TO 1890 feet ond
at the latter depth he calculated from
accurate data, that large whale would
have In euatain the r,rass,, -, - ~, ,e-t t