The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-03-25

The tail I'm, The tail, moreover, IL uFed In balanc
ing, fora whale. when dead, falls over on It's side
It Is also Of service In turning, and indeed. a.
a WEAPON Of offence for sinking boats.
There are divers opinions as ~ the nature Of the
whale'stail: the late DR. Gray waS strongly Of the
opinion that this organ is thsdeeenerate equivalent
d the ~posterior pair Of limbs On this hypothesis
the whale would exhibit The Inst term Of a series
begun by the YEA lions There are not wanting
analoRies TO supper, this theory, but there are
arguments agains, II which s-em absolutely fatal
The tai Of the CON mon porpo,se tPhOe0na com
hunts when it nrst appears is a proiongation
Of the body. sharply marked Of from the body
and 10 far precisely like tho tail Of q typically
tailed and terrestrial mammal, This tail has
at first practically no lateral phalanges: when
these appear they are. obviously. lateral expan-
sions OF the integument. and the tail has q dia-
mOnd sha ped outline; IL is, indeed, not unlike that
Of a mana,ee in general shape. The arg ument
which seems to conclude the matter II that. in
this sams porpoise, coincidentally with the ap-
pearance Of the lateral p~halnnges Of the tail tthe
supposed hind limbs. BE- 1t remembered) distinct
traces Of those same hind limbs are visible In their
proper place. that Is to say considerably In front
Of the tail. We must look at the broad tail Of tho
beaye for an analogue 10 the tail nukes OF the
whale Il is fur'her to be noted that most whales
have = fin on tho dorsal side Of the body. nearer to
the ~posterior than 20 the anterior end thereof Tbs
resemblance Of this fin to the similarly placed
dorsal lin OF fishes is Obvious II has even been
asserted that there are two dorsal fms in some
whales. but the existence OF a second and fish
like anal lin seems TO be purely mythical. DR..
Murie Is inclined to sse in the dorsal fin a repre-
sentative u tie hump Of the camel and
zebn The tippe-s Of the whale correspond.
q; course, 10 the anterior limbs In other
yertebrateS. Whales, as We have seen, have only
the ruliments Of p~ostprior appendages Tho
flippers of whales vary much in length and shape.
They do not seem TO he much used for prog reesion
They are rather used ~ balancers. and thus re-
semble the anterior fms Of fishes. When a whale
is dead, II heels over TO ono side. A fact which
seens to bs proof that balancing Is the funo-
ton Of the nippers Tho ripper Of the whale
terminates in a hand, but here we encounter the
phenomenon known as hyperphalange The typ
icnl mammalian hand Is com posed Of dig1ts which
have but three phnlanges. the thumb. indeed,
possessing but two. In whales the number Of
phalanges may reach so great q number as sew
-nteen. In some whales, moreover, the last nm
ger il partially split into two. The absence OF
nails on the whales digits is remarkable, for in
the sea lions and the seals the nails are fairly
we'll DEVELOPED though they do not lie at the ex.
irrmi,ies of the iigits TO which they belong.
On. II the most universal definitions Of the
mammalia is the possession u a hairy covering
No other animals have any epiderma structures
which are strictly comparable 10 hairs. whereas
hairs are present In almos, all mammals, The
whales, indeed. ore the only exception TO the uni
versatility " this statement, and even they are
but a partial exception The white whale and
the Naryhal seem never TO possess any hairs,
either rs adults or frtuses. In many other species,
however, hairs have been found to persist in the
adult condition sometimes in diminished num-
bers, in Others, there are hairs in the tr,us. but
none In the adult animal These hairs are limited
in every case to the law regions, and are SO few
tina, they can be counted. The question arises.
Is this loss Of hair the consequence of aquatic
life. is It in any way connected with the aquatic
existence OF the animals The usual view is that
the hair is absent, as not being necessary to an
aquatic animal; there is no doubt tina: hair largely
serves to retain the heat Of the body. The loss
OF heati in whales is prevented by the thick covering
Of blubber. a. well a. by the thickness Of the skin
itself. Thus a hairy covering would he unneces.
sary, and, perhaps. sven In the way On the
OtnSf ndnU, IL must 10 III III hllud 'lhN' 4 u u
seals and sea lions, there Is an outer coating Of fat.
and yet the hair is retained, particularly In tho
species which furnish the sealskin Of
which Possess n soft, thick under FUR, az well
As a coating Of coarser hair
Among aquatic mammals, however, there
seems to be a tendency TO lose the hairy cover
ing. Even among the sea lions some do not
possess the soft under fur, the hair, in their case.
k-I-- A.. -. - ..l.,.,,,, fTba,
az rain, we have the walrus and the hippopotamus.
There are several ungula,e types which have
gradually got less hairy in the course Of their
evolution. The elephants Of to day, for instance,
present. by their almost naked skin. a contrast
to the mammoth Of the pleis,ocene age. II Is
thus conceivable that We have in the whales an
exA9gerauon Of an ungulae tendency. for there
arc some who would derive the whales from an
ungulate ancestry. There IL yet another possible
o explanation Of the hairless condition Of the whale
tribe. Whales are al present smooth-skinnei,
there n evidence that their ancestors had
dermAl scutes. forming an armature comparable
to that Of the armadilo. In the last named ami
NAL the hairs have been replaced By scales, and
there Il no room for hairs, except between the
scutss. II the view b correct that the ancestral
VII ales we're creatures clothed with scutes II Ia
70 sss how the nude condition OF the modern
whales has been arrived at, for the original hair
covering would have been destroyed by the np-
pearancs Of seutes, and. when IN. latter disap-
peared, tbs hair would not reemsrge. The blow
hole or blow holes tthere are In some species two
separate orifoes) OF the whale are o. course its most
They ars situated on the top Of the head. and.
~ A rule, somewhat behind the front thereof.
except In the sperm whale. We see In such d.
worse types a. the crocodile and the hlppopotamus
analog Gus arrangements 81 the nos,rils which per-
tns animal 70 come 10 the surface IN breathe, and,
at the same dine, e1pose the minimum Of its body
n possible enemies. The blowing or s%pouting
Of a whale Ia. Of cour ~, the act OF expiration:
II tAkss place a. the whale reaches the surface,
or lust before after an immersion moro or less
prolonged. The real nature Of the process has
more than one false in Interpretation Milton
wrots Of the whale who, "athis gils, draws In,
and, al his trunk. spouts out a SEA CLAUS Mag
nus figures the spouins Of a very la &c whale
a q means Of offence. It wA, apparently. the
cels huated anatouist and embyologist Karl
Won Baar who, In 1925. nrst showed clearly, from
anatomical considerations. tina, the whale could
not spout forth . volume Of SEA water; -ich wafer
a. does actually leave the blow hols Is simply
The breath Of the creaturs condensed, mingled
often with q little Of the surface water Of the
ga, which the whale disturbs by beginning the
art Of expiration when still a little way beneath
the surface.
We peas over the chapter on the internal suuct-
ure Of whales, with tho exception Of a passage
"