Western Kansas world., 1885-08-08
THE MOUTH OF THE WHALE.

A Wonderful Sieve of Gigantic Dimensions
Longman's Magazine.
In all the Greenland whales there are
no teeth in the lower jaw, while in the
upper jaw the teeth are replaced by those
unique horny flakes which 60 by the
proper name "whalebone," and are right
ly termed "baleen." In the seas which
are the resort of the Greenland whale
the great octopods which constitute the
chief foods of the cachalot can not exist,
and the only inhabitants of the water on
which the whale can feed are of very
small size. Chief among these creatures
is the odd little mollusk called Clio bore.
ais, which seldom exceeds an inch in
length, and usually is much less. It is
evident that the narrow lower jaw of the
cachalot, with it's great teeth set at some
distance from each other, would be use.
less in the capture of such prey. 1t is also
evident that vast numbers of Clio must
be taken in order to nourish so enormous
an animal. Therefore the structure o1
the head must be modified as far as con.
corning those portions of it which are
used in the procural of food.
In the first place, the skull is exceed
ingly narrow and elongated. Next, the
cavity of the mouth must be greatly en-.
larged. The two halves of the lower jaw
instead of being pressed closely against
each other, as in the Denticete whale ARE
strongly bowed outward, much in the
form of a parenthesis 0. Then the bones
which form the upper jaw, instead of be.
ing depressed, fattened and projected
directly forward, are curved upward 80 as
to form an arch. Here, then, is plenty
of space, but as yet there are no means
of inclosing prey within it. The want is
supplied as follows: The lower jaw is, as
has already been stated. without teeth.
But from the upper jaw there issues a
series of long, horny plates, called BLADES
of flakes" by the whalers. These blades
are comparatively short at the angle of
the jaw and at the end of it, and are long
est in the middle. In q fairly large whale
the central fakes will be about twelve
feet, in length, but in exceptionally fine
specimens thew are considerably longer.
For example, some fakes of baleen in the
museum Of Newcastle-upon-Tyne are six
teen feet in length, about foot in width
and nearly two inches in thickness at the
back. They always assume slightly
wedge-like form, such as may be seen in
blade of an ordinary pocket knife, the
edge of the blade being directed inward,
and only the back being visible on the
outside. Like the horn of the rhinoceros,
the baleen is nothing but the aggregation
of hair, and if it be boiled for some time
and then beaten with mallet, it can be
resolved into q mere tuft of bristles. In
its natural state the thin edge of each
fake, as well as the tip, is naturally
broken up into its component hairs, so
that it forms sort of bristly tinge which
lines the side of the mouth. There are
about 250 of these fakes on each side of
of the upper jaw, and they are set so
closely side by side that an ordinary
playing card can scarcely be inserted be.
tween them.
Thus We have the cavity of the mouth
inclosed within q vast triangular case of
baleen, the loose fibers on the inte rior
surface forming q far more perfect hair
sieve than can be found in the beet ap-
pointed kitchen. This living sieve is of
such gigantic dimensions that. accord
ing to the sailors, q whaleboat would
be able to row in without the oars touch.
ing the side of the mouth. As q rule,
we only know the baleen in its dr,ed
state, and can, therefore, form tut little
of it ss it appears during the
life OF the animal. It is then quite soft,
far more elastic than in the dry condi-
ton, and not in the least brittle. If we
take strip of dried baleen (such a. is
beloved by milliners and hated by
physiologists) and try to bend it double,
we shall find that it will crack at the
point of tension, and that its elasticity is
greatly vanished. Indeed, one of the
chief complaints against corsets is that
the "bones" are apt to give way. But,
during the life of the animal, the taleen |
is as unremarkable as if it were made of |
India rubber, and is nearly as flexible.
So, when the mouth of the Greenland |
whale is closed, the baleen bends back
ward, the ends being received into q
leep groove. But as soon as the whale
,pens its mouth the baleen springs for
yard by its own elasticity, so that it en-
irely closes the space between the low
y and upper jaws. It is q remarkable
act that the whale cub, when first
ormed, has no baleen, and, indeed, it