Cheyenne transporter. [volume] (Darlington, Indian Terr.) 1879-1886, 1885-08-15

the upper jaw the teeth are replaced
by those unique horny flakes which go
by the proper name "whalebone,"
and are rightly 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 in
habitants 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 boredliS,
which seldom exceeds an inch in
length, and usually is much less 1t
is evident that the narrow lower jaw
OF the cachalot, with its great teeth
set at some distance from each other,
would be useless in the capture of
such prey. 1t is also evident that vast
numbers of the Clio must be taken in
order to nOurish so enormous an ami
NAL. Therefore the structure of the
head must be modified as far as con-
cernng those portions OF it which are
used in the procural of food.
In the first place, the skull is ex-
ceedingly narrow and elongated.
Next, the cavity of the mouth must be
greatly enlarged. 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 paren-
thesis Q. Then the bones which form
the upper jaw, instead of being de-
pressed, flattened, and projected di-
rectly forward, are curved upward so
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: Tho
lower jaw is, as has already been stat
ed without teeth. But from the upper
jaw there issues 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
longest in the middle. In fairly
large whale the central flakes will be
about twelve feet, in length, but in ex-
ceptionally fine specimens they are
considerably longer. For example,
some flakes of baleen in the museum
of Newcastle-upon-Tyne are sixteen
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 poe
ket-knife, the edge of the blade being
directed inward, and only the back
being visible on the outside. Like the
nothing but an aggregation of hair.
and if it be boiled for some time and
then beaten with mallet, it can be
resolved into mere tuft of bristles.
In its natural state the thin edge of
each flake, as we'll as the tip, is natur-
ally broken up into its component
hairs, SO that il forms a sort of brstly
tinge, which lines the side of the
month. There are about 25O of these
flakes on each side of the upper jaw,
and they are set SO closely side by side
that an ordinary playing card can
scarcely be inserted between them.
Thus we have the cavity of the
mouth inclosed within vast triangu-
lar case of baleen, the loose tibers on
the interior surface forming far more
perfect hair sieve than can be found
in the best-appointed kitchen. This
living sieve is of such gigantic dimen-
siOns that, according to sailors,
whalebOat would be able to row In
without the oars touching the sides of
the mouth. AS rule, we only know
the baleen in its dried state. and can,
therefore, form but little conception
of it as it appears during the life OF
the animal. 1t is then quite soft, far
more elastic than in the dry condition,
and not in the least brittle. If FIVE
take a strip of dried baleen (such as
is beloved by milliners and hated by
physiologists) and try to bend it dou-
BILE, we shall find that it will crack at
the point OF tention, ard that it's
elasticity has greatly vanished. In