Raia ae ma ntinte Patera Porters Cetera ae at eet 5 Ucohese dt ys iheyennttee Cer ae Ceri n Paes nan N hac Rehr at 7 om pana otles ici oiencataey Aegis erent Skies meal a n ia) at inte a Break reine rie ark r Ci Sy i Ki ahhh Racy A, Daye X % PAR eM eit riy at tee Reha Pag ton Wicmheninse ee + Decay Meme rwane Bagby tatty OTN NBR Arye Tepe ps fl Beh iin, *\ i a0 aut eh i Ki i oa ORR PEED weet bt ee sat Pattee ates ty - ry CTT Dees ee Het aise a Na ue aT Hafreatt ls Herta rc a ; paris one sy Wet Paha en ngesd Padeabt etd yhateh et ae aa! wit ae on wn cs en hi rate OF Milas SEIN eke new @) aut gt CuRitni See is pads icy Crier tarts as mya tae - na Seen tee ert 7“ tid ae cele me sit ae Bice i ua orth ein a iat chive Dalene: ret a a vi i Het tere ira ea Me ra / ni pt ees Stan etene Lares me Ch tery Be fe py nt hershey erred fer i RIC toate tae oy Sa eit poet rs pcre near i ives setts st re sa ne Keegiatiny ikl ete ashe pouuiEl i er Sa ea ee tet ae ei chet eee Hy bee A. i, ec rms tas anthingg Gari Recetas tart ee Att Seer ard Chea n te fesereyrty rc pag err toe a ys af ie . sir panecestiper oer mi nioat er “ ry fiscal sen peret ae jar eecgavente ietonts tere tay antec Sees ink aes mienonrs eyaaraec perdi Roe eS tar cep -yeins SimsnQinten, tbadaa re eoeargatedn > partied iri accra pacetege premers aloe ety “ ater SG foment ket ‘he 6 tire ase a amlocpthe areal peopeos sabato mae ene f tard ae oot 1 Foie ph ge VO ee AMEE ACO tt Seseeapeees reraeerrnaet es ely ir rac a ee na hy = Fa Pept aoe soap ocr eae : ere : / ar at Teena Sit aie tt men aoe are ee te Recent att teeat BE rshactayiens fe Rea foster feeeisy LN Pa el a 9 Pall wercipa on ietranann ee es APNG Ma hush Hit opap ie emia be jeseishemebacag wearin magioecs seals maps ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY New York STATE COLLEGES OF AGRICULTURE AND HoME ECONOMICS AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY Cornell University Library 706.F47 ammalia.Popularly described by typical MAMMALIA. [POPULARLY DESCRIBED BY TYPICAL SPECIES. WITH NUMEROUS ANECDOTES. BY LOUIS FIGUIER. Allnstrated With 267 Engrabings, ‘BY MM. A. MESNEL, A. DE NEUVILLE, E, RIOU, ETC, LONDON : FREDERICK WARNE AND CO.: BEDFORD STREET, COVENT GARDEN, NEW YORK: SCRIBNER, WELFORD AND CO. NOTE. -he early portion was edited by EK. Bryruz, Esq., F.Z.S. This acknowledgment is necessary, as that part was remodelled and considerably augmented. Otherwise this book is a free trans- lation. PARKER GILLMORE (‘‘ UBIQUE’’). March 12, 1870. CONTENTS. PAGE Inrropuctory 1 MONOTREMATA. PAGE PAGE Ornithorhynchus 12 Mchidna. . . 2 44> @ 14 Duckbill 12 Porcupine Ant-eater. . 2 ele MARSUPIATA. Phascolomes 1S) EDaSVUTEs ay wk dk ce a ey BS Wombat . 19 Thylacims: 2. as aw} we = we BE Syndactyles 19 PALCOPhIS. 2.0 on we i & w 26 Kangaroos . 20 Dasyures proper . . . . . . 27 Phalangers . 23 Phascogales . eins oe Se ez i OD Tarsipedes 24 ‘Opossims: 2 a 2 + 4 4 w+ « 28 Bandacoots . 25 CETACEA. etme or Sponting ae une 32 Blowing or Spouting ee ae Whales . . - 33 Porpoise. .. 75 Whales proper 3 33 Narwhiall' 3. a ae cer ee, EE Rorquals . . 59 Bela, tm sy ae eee ne Le BS. Cachalot (Sperm Whale) $8 66 MHerbivorous ....... . 94 Blowing or ppouning canal Tribe) : 1 Manateene ix as tp Sap ce 98 Dolphin. . 71 IDUVONEY 3. ae GS Ge a aie sw 796 AMPHIBIA. Morse or Walrus . 99 Seals— Seals. . . . - 104 SeaLions « & a & a 2 + edt? Common . = LLL Sea Wolf «sw = = + = » IT? Greenland . . . lil Sea Elephant . . . ... .112 White-bellied . - 21 Sea Leopard . «= « « « « + 112 Capucin . « 112 mee beers ¢ « w» ee » « 2 TH PACHYDERMATA. Proboscidea. . . 114 Ordinary Pachyderms. . . . . 132 ' Asiatic . 128 Hippopotamus. . . . . . . 182 African » 128 Rhinocerotide . . . . . . . 187 Mammoth - 1380 Great Indian . . . . . . 188 . 132 Javanese. ~ « « « » « « 14 Mastodon vill Ordinary Pachyderms. Rhinocerotide— Sumatrian Keitloa . . : : Borélé. . . . oe ys Ger ak we a ake oh x Papi American . Indian Suidee Wild Camels . : Proper... Dromedary . Llamas Proper Paca . 1 8 6 Vicuna Common Ruminants Giraffe . . .. Chamois . . 5 Gazelle Saiga . Nyl-ghau Connochetes Alcephalus . Goats . Wild Domestic . Caprovis genus Sheep Ox genus Sloths Unau . Ai. 3 Armadillos Great. Pichiy Orycteropus Mustelide . Otters - Common . Sea. Weasels . . Martens . CONTENTS. PAGE Ordinary Pachyderms. nidee— . 141 Domestic. . . . . 156 Phacocherés . ‘ . 156 * Pecearies . 3 . 158 Solipedes ‘ - 160 Horse proper = 281 Domestic Ass . 161 Wild Ass. . - 164 Zebra . . 164 Quagga . 164 Dauw . RUMINANTIA. . 227. Common Ruminants. Ox emue— . 227 American Bison « 228 Musk . B.'s - 235 European Bison . » 235 Cape Buffalo é s. 287 Yak . . 238 Jungle Ox . » 239 Buffalo . . . 289 Common Ox . . 245 Reindeer. . . « 247 Elk Bian . 248 Deer . 250 Red. . 252 Canada . 253 Virginian . 254 Axis . 265 Porcine . 256 Fallow . 259 Roe. F . 259 Tibet Musk . ae . 272 Naps 2. « « 4 EDENTATA. . 814 Orycteropus— - 815 Aard-vark . - 815 Ant-eaters - 316 Great . . ... . 317 Tamandua. ... . 317 Little. -. - 317 Pangolins . CARNIVORA. . 825 Mustelide. Martens— - 825 Pine gg 2 = «= % . 326 Sable . . 827 Beech . . 827 Polecats . . - 327 Common . PACHYDERMATA \cammed), p, GE | 169 | 180_ ‘181 181 919 "1219 * {221 ‘ loa8 : [224 - 273 . 274 » 274 » 276 - 276 » 278 » 278 . 279 - 292 . 297 . 299 . 300 - 808 - 805 . 805 - 805 » 805 . 807 . 309 . 312 . 817 - 318 - 318 - 820 - 820 - 820 - 3) 8° - 84 Bs + 34 9 - 88 40 : 34 i0 Melee: Polecats-- aoe Ferret . Weasels ane Gluttons ". Skunks Badgers . Common . Indian American Ratels Hyenas . Striped Spotted . Aard Wolf. Felide . Lion. . . South African Persian . 7 North African o Tiger Panther . Leopard. . ‘ North African Ounce . : Serval Wild Cat . Domestic Cat Jaguar Puma Lynx European Caracal Cheetah . Rodents . Rats . Black . Brown . Wood Mouse Common Mouse Harvest Mouse .. Field Mice . mesy Campagnol . Economic Water Rat . Lemming Musk Rat Hamster Dormouse Proper Muscardine . Jerboa Rats Mole Rats . Coast Rats CONTENTS. CARNIVORA (pontinied ). PAGE Canide . « Bel Fox : - 331 Common . . 332 Black . - 833 Arctic . - 333 Grey » 334 Cross . - 835 Dog . . - 8385 Jackal . - 336 Wolf . . 336 Proper . 887 =Viverride . . - 8387 Mangousts . - 338 Civet . . 338 African - 338 Indian . 840 Genet . 841 Paradoxurus . 345 Cynogale - 349 Ictides . 353 Coati . - 360 Racoon . 865 Common . . 367 Crab-eating . . 867 Kinkajou eee Beate. 5 wa . 876 Brown . 877 Siberian . . 377 Black . . 379 Grizzly . . 881 White - 382 Sloth . - 383 Bornean . - 884 Malay . 885 RODENTIA. . 437 Mole Rats— - 438 Rhyzomys . 442 Jerboas . - 442 Common . . 442 Sagitta . 442 Pédétes . - 448 Jumping Hare . 445 Helamys . 445 Saccomys: . . 445 Saccophorus . 447 ~Chinchilla . . 447 = Lagotis . . 448 Viscacha . 450 Ctenomys . 452 Capromys . 453 Porcupines . 453 Proper . . 453 Prehensile . 454 Synetherus . 454 Aulacodus . ix PAGE . 387 - 387 - 387 . 394 - 894 . 395 « 895 . 895 . 396 - 898 - 403 . 419 . 419 - 420 - 421 » 421 - 422 - 422 . 422 « 423 . 423 - 424 . 426 » 425 » 425 . 426 - 428 - 432 - 432 . 432 - 433 436 . 436 . 436 . 465 - 455 455 - 456 . 456 . 456 . 456 . 457 . 457 . 458 . 459 - 460 . 461 . 461 462 . 462 . 464 . 465 . 465 x CONTENTS. RODENTIA (continued). PAGE Capybara . . . . . . . . . 466 Tamias, or Ground s enaaD CObaya wer) A et Re, ACT Palm . . . “os Cavy Paca. 2. 2 ew ew es 469 Burrowing . ABOU, cinaicw om om 4 we 469 Hackee Beavers . + + + 6 « ©. «470 Spermophilus . DIV OPOtAMIOS, so nie Gk Se ew AY Soushk quires. jew Ge 2 ok. 4-478 Striped European... .. =. . .478 + #Marmots . . Gindian. 3. 20s vy ar a, 2 ABT Common Malabatrs i. $e se sate, g. o048l Quebec Fox . ES ee Gre ae SB Maryland Flying Squirrels SP te ote Ga eee OD) Prairie Dog Sciuropteres 2 o¢ & & = & «> 482) “Leporides Pteromys. 5 ~ » # = = « «483. alepus Anomalurus). . . 483 Hare . Tamias, or Ground Squirrels . > « 483 Rabbit INSECTIVORA. Mole soe ee ew . « « . 603 Macroscelides Common. 2°. 2 . 2% =» «= 503 Rhynchocyon. Blind’: sds ee) eo Ae OO.) | Desman.c Wooputa: 6 a Ga aa 2 d10 Muscovite ASiTOMYCIES: 5 = % a4 « 4 @1610 Pyrenean Scalops = 4 » « = « « « « «610 (Hedpehags Chrysochloris. . » . « « « « 610 Common . Shrew Mice. 4 a « & «2 2 «611 Long-eared . Common =~ 2 4 2: « & &, 2612 “Panrees Beriscan awn @ ws a ae BeOLe Tendracs Gaanit Qt ae Se tS ye ae OTD Tanrecs . Water « & ae me 4 oe # 21612 Gynnira Oarédie So 2 aoa a ae a eZ. “pais Solenodon. 4 2-2 S s. «$4 2018 CHEIROPTERA. Cheiroptera . . . . . . . . 621 Vespertilionide. Rhinolophus— Vespertilionide . . . 2. . . . 626 Great Horse-shoe . F Taphozons . . . . . . +s + 627 Megadermes Nocithos: 2 s0 = 32 2 2 5 O27 Rhinopomes Vespertilio .. . . . . . . . 627 = Pteropina Pipistrella. « 4 #2 @ a » 027 Pteropus Nochhio: -s soe (2). = & 5 O27 Edible Long-eared . . . 1... . 527 Edwards’ Murina . . .. ee O27 Common. Molossus «. & = ~ « « # » 628 Red-necked . Nycteris 2 ms 3 4 = a 2628 “Vampires. 2 Rhinolophus: « <2 «4 = 528 Phyllostomes Gambinys oh. 8. os a de 28 Glassophages Tricuspid. td 41028 Stenodermes Lesser Horseshoe. . . . . 529 Desmodes QUADRUMANA. Galeopithecide . . . . . . . 539 Makis ‘ Colupos 2c aie a Ae tyrone S040 Maki or Macacos . Cheitomys <0 6. wn es B4T Ruffled . Aye-aye. . ..... . . 542 Ring-tailed Wace . 483 - 483 . 484 « 484 - 484 - 485 - 485 - 486 - 488 - 488 - 488 - 489 . 489 - 489 - 494 - 618 . 613 . d14 - 614 - 514 . O14 - 518 . 618 - 619 . 519 . 619 - 519 . 519 . 643 . 544 » \b44 - ptt CONTENTS. QUADRUMANA (continued). PAGE - Makis. Maki or Macacos— Monkeys. Prehensile Tailed— Brown . . 544 Ateles Bae ttn t tee Red . . s . 544 Sapajou . Bete ens White-fronted . » 645 7 Sat Black-fronted . 645 Non-prehensile Tailed. White-footed ~ 545 Callithrix A Crowned . . 545 Saimiri Indris . . 545 Nocthora . Proper. .. . 545 Saki 5 Propithecus . . 545 Brachyures Avahi . . 546 Cynocephali Tarsius - O47 Mandrills Spectre . 547 Cynocephalus proper - Galago . 547 Baboons os Senegal . 548 Chacmas . Demidoff . . . 548 Papios Bushy-tailed . . 548 Macaques Perodicticus - 648 Cynopithecus Loris . . 549 Magot : Slender . 650 Macaque proper Slow-paced. . 550 Mangabey Ouistitis ; 550 Guenons Midas . Semnopitheci . Tamarins Nasica . Monkeys Semnopitheci proper : Colobus Prehensile Tailed. Anthropomorphous 5 Gibbons . Howlers . 556 Orang Lagothrix 558 Gorilla Eriodes 588 Chimpanzee . xi PAGE . 558 . 560 . 563 . 563 . 564 . 564 . 566 . 667 . 669 . O71 » Ol . d71 . O74 . 574 . 674 - 575 - O77 . 578 . 579 . 581 . 582 . 583 . 084 585 586 589 | 593 * 602 ERRATA. Page 112, line 36, Sea Bear should be Sea Leopard. Page 445, line 17, Common or Small Field Mouse showld be Campagnol, or Short- tailed Field Mouse. MAMMALIA. Tut Mammalia constitute the highest and most important class of Vertebrata. They interest us more than the other classes, because they furnish us with those animals which are most useful in supplying us with food, in aiding us in our labours, and in providing us with the raw material required for so many of our manufactures. A land-inhabiting animal of this class is recog- nised at the first glance; for its external and characteristic marks are numerous. The subordinate marine group of Cetacea, however, supphes rather a marked exception, consequent upon its adapta- tion to exclusively aquatic habits. Among the Vertebrata, these animals alone have, as their name imports (mamme), teats, which are situated either on the breast, or on the belly, or on both, and by means of which they suckle their young. The number of teats, in general, corresponds with the number of young of which each litter is composed. The majority of the Mammalia are covered with hair. Some, however, have smooth skins: as, for instance, the Whale and Porpoise ; others, as the Pangolins (J/anis), are clad with dermal scales, which are altogether unlike those of Reptiles or Fishes. The size of the Mammalia varies extremely: the scale extend- ing from the Whale and the Elephant to the Mouse, and to the most diminutive of Shrews, which are considerably less than half the size of the very smallest of the Mouse genus. Although less brilliant than the feathers of Birds and the scales of Fishes, the coats of the Mammalia offer to the eye very agreeable shades of colour. But nothing varies more than the peculiar nature of this coat. It is enough for us to remember, as a type of these differences, the hair of Fallow Deer, the bristles of the wild B 2 MAMMALIA, Boar, the prickles of Hedgehogs and the quills of Porcupine’, and the wool of the domestic Sheep and of the equally domestic Alpaca. The colour of this same coat varies much less. The changes are nearly always from white to black, from reddish brown to yellowish. The brightest hues are found amongst the Monkeys and the Bats. As a general rule, the hair of the Mammalia falls off about spring or autumn, and is then replaced by new hair : this is what is called the shedding of the coat, which in some species takes place twice in the year. The scales, nails, horns, flakes of baleen (or so-called whale-bone), which certain Mammalia have, are pro- duced merely by the excessively close contact of the roots of the hair, the horny filaments of which join themselves firmly together, and compose solid laminz or blades. The general form of the body of Mammalia is determined by their bony skeleton. The form of the skull varies exceedingly among the Mammalia. Some, such as the Rhinoceros, have on the head or on the nose certain appendages. These appendages are sometimes merely the result of a very close conjunction of the roots of the hair, and belong to the skin; such is the case with the horn or horns upon the face of the Rhinoceros. In other cases, the horns are placed on the skull itself, and belong to the frontal bones. All the animals provided with true horns are comprised in the natural order of Ruminantia. When these appendages fall off every year, and are then re- newed, they are called bois (antlers), as in the case of the Stags. When they are hollow, investing a bony core, and are never renewed, they are called horns: these are found on the Ox, the Sheep, the Goat, &c.* Both horns and antlers vary a great deal in their shape. Other animals present a singular anomaly in the development of the nose. In the Elephant, we find this organ considerably elongated, and forming a trunk, which is used for prehension. At other times, this organ is less elongated, less retractile, as in the case of the Tapir and of many insectivorous animals, some of which are obliged to dig up the earth in search of their food. * A third kind of horn will be duly noticed in its place, that of the cabril or prong-horn (Antilocupra Americana).—Ep. MAMMALIA. 3 The species of the Mammalia vary in their forms according to the uses which the animals have to make of them. Nearly all of the Mammalia have four limbs. The Cetacea have no abdominal members, and their anterior members are formed like fins or paddles for swimming. The organs of sense are generally more developed in this class of animals than in all those we have hitherto studied. The sense of touch, which is almost wanting in some—as the Horse and the Ox —because their extremities are covered by hoofs, is very highly developed in Monkeys. With these animals, the upper member is terminated by an organ of prehension, which can in a manner mould itself on the objects it takes hold of, and which imparts to the sense of touch an enhanced delicacy. The sense of vision alone is highest in the class of Birds. The seeing apparatus is, in general, more developed in the Mammalia that prowl by night, than in those which seck their food by day. Some which, like the Moles, live underground, have excessively small eyes, over which the skin is merely attenuated in certain species of Mole, there being no visual aperture whatever. Very highly developed in carnivorous animals, the sense of smell is generally less developed in the other classes of Mammalia. It is acute in the Ruminantia and in the Solipedes. The more timid and the weaker the animal, the finer is its sense of hearing. This sense, moreover, undergoes great variations in the Mammalia. In aquatic Mammalia, it is comparatively dull, with some exceptions (p. 35). The taste differs equally, according as the Mammalia are her- bivorous, insectivorous, or carnivorous. The muscular system depends on the form and manner of loco- motion and on the length of the animal. The nervous system among the animals of this class only differs by having certain of its anatomical elements more or less developed. In general, the brain is sufficiently voluminous, and increases in size in proportion as the animal rises in the organic scale. The functions of nutrition are performed in the same manner in nearly all the Mammalia; so that the digestive organs vary but very little in this great class. The upper orifice of the digestive tube, or the mouth, is mostly provided with teeth, the form of which depends on the food upon B2 4 MAMMALIA. which the animal lives. The tecth are divided into incisors, Canes, and molars. The last-mentioned are the most useful. In the Carni- vora, they are sharp, and arranged in such a manner as to act like the blades of a pair of scissors. In the Herbivora, they are flat and roughish. In the Insectivora, they are armed with little points, which fit into each other. The canine tceth, indispensable to the Carnivora for tearing up their prey, assume sometimes a consider- able development, and form what are called the fwsks, as in the wild Boar and some other animals. The tusks of the Elephant are nothing else but the prolongation of the canine teeth, projecting from the mouth. In the Whale, the teeth are replaced by flexible blades, furnished with hair, and fixed firmly to the jaw: these are called the whale-bone plates or lamine (baleen).* Certain genera of Edentata are also toothless, as the Ant-eaters and the Pangolins, and again the Monotremata. The upper maxillary bone, which forms the jaw, is immovable in the Mammalia. Whilst the aliments are undergoing mastication, they are satu- rated with a liquid called saliva. The apparatus which furnishes this liquid is composed of three glands—yparotid, sublingual, and submarillary. The saliva varies in its amount of development according to the kind of food which is taken. It is very highly developed in the aquatic Mammalia. The deglutition is effected by the pharynx and the esophagus, which serve as a conduit for conveying the food into the stomach. All the Mammalia have but one stomach, with the exception of the Ruminantia, which have four. The first and largest is called the paunch ; 1t occupies a great part of the abdomen. The food stays there but a short time, passing thence into the Lonnet (honey-comb bag), or second stomach. This second stomach of the Ruminantia is a little eavity which is in front of the paunch, and which receives from that reservoir the alimentary matter. After having saturated it with the macerating juices, it sends it back again to the esophagus, and thence to the mouth, in order that it may undergo a second mastication. The food now descends into the third stomach, which has received the name of Seuillet, or deaf (many-plies), on account of the broad longitudinal folds with *But the fectal whale has the rudiments of teeth, each provid ed with j nerve and blood-vessels ; a most noteworthy adherence to the gen ee ee cral type. MAMMALIA. 5 which it is lined in the interior. The fourth cavity, which is the true stomach, has received the name of caillictte, or rennet-bag, because it has the property (on account of the gastric juice with which its surface is saturated) of causing milk to coagulate. The first three stomachs, the paunch, the honey-comb bag, and the many-plies, communicate with the osophagus, so as to allow the aliment to return easily into the mouth. From the rennet-bag, the food, going through an opening called the pylorus, passes into the intestines. There the alimentary mass yields all its nutritious elements, and is then evacuated. The length of the intestines varies in the Mammalia according to the kind of food they eat. Thus, in the Carnivora, their length is only three or four times as much as the length of the animal’s body ; while in the Herbivora the intestines are from twelve to twenty-eight times its length. In the domestic Cat the intestines are proportionately longer than in any of its wild congeners, having thus gradually become adapted (in a long series of genera- tions) to a less exclusively carnivorous regimen. The apparatus for the circulation of the blood has for its central organ the heart—a hollow muscle, composed of four cavities: two auricles and two ventricles. In all Mammalia there is a double circulation of the blood; there exists a great and a Jittle circula- tion.’ The venous blood which comes from all parts of the body into the right auricle of the heart, conveyed by the hollow veins, passes first into the right ventricle, which sends it through the pulmonary artery to the lungs. There it is transformed into arterial blood—that is to say, it absorbs the oxygen of the air ; then it returns to the left auricle by the pulmonary veins. Thence it passes into the left ventricle of the heart, and discharges itself into the artery called the aorta, and thence into the other arteries, which distribute it throughout the whole body. The blood then comes back from all parts of the animal’s body into the right auricle of the heart by the veins—consequent upon the com- munication which is established between the veins and arteries, in the immediate vicinity of the tissues, by the general capillary net-work or system. The respiratory apparatus occupies, in Mammalia, the upper part of the bony framework formed by the ribs and the sfernwn, or breast bone. This apparatus is composed of lungs—double 6 MAMMALIA. organs suspended to the two sides of the chest—and of the tube called the trachea, which puts the lungs in communication with the external air. The trachea is a cylindrical membranous tube, at first single, and which then separates into two parts, called: the bronchial tubes, which soon lose themselves in an infinite number of little ramifications in the midst of the substance of the lung. The ramifications of the bronchial tubes may be compared, in their form, to the roots of a tree. The lining of the rami- fications of the bronchial tubes is formed of a membrane of a loose texture, permeable to the air, and which allows it to pass freely into all the cells of the pulmonary tissue. It is in this tissue that the capillary vessels, which are to extend as far as the pulmonary veins, come and abut; and it is thus that the venous blood finds itself exposed to the action of the oxygen, which modifies its nature and transforms it into arterial blood. The mechanism of respiration is effected by the elevation of the ribs and the contraction of the diaphragm. The diaphragm is a flat muscle, which separates the cavity of the abdomen from that of the chest. It is fixed, on one side, to the vertebral column, and on the other, to the base of the bony framework formed by the sternum and the ribs. When it con- tracts, it diminishes the transversal diameter of the chest, by increasing its antero-posterior diameter; then, and by the effect of the atmospheric pressure, the air precipitates itself into the lungs by the mouth or by the nostrils, and by following the course of the bronchial tubes, penetrates into all the pulmonary cells. much is the phenomenon of ¢nspiration. Then the diaphragm becomes relaxed, the ribs and the pulmonary cells, by their own elasticity, return to their original positions, and drive out the gas with which they were filled. This phenomenon is called expiration. During the sojourn of the air in the ramifications of the lung, the oxygen of the air inspired is combined with the elements of the blood ; in such a manner that the composition of the gas which issues from the lungs is very different from that of the air inspired. The gas driven out of the lung during the expiration contains less oxygen, and is loaded with a considerable quantity of carbonic acid gas, the oxygen of the air combining with the rejected carbon which is conveyed by the venous blood into the lungs. The respiratory movements vary much in their frequency MAMMALIA. 7 according to the medium in which the Mammalia live, and according to their size and strength. Of all the animals, the Mammalia are those which show the greatest intelligence; but this intelligence varies much according to the different animals. It is, above all, applied to the necessity of self-preservation, the search for food, and the reproduction of their species. This faculty shows itself equally in many other cases, which we shall have to point out in detail in the sequel of this volume. Nature has provided with admirable care and an infinite provi- dence for all the wants of the Mammalia. To the animal of a mild and peaceable character, to which fighting and struggling against too redoubtable adversaries is forbidden, she has provided the means of avoiding and escaping from its enemies. Some are marvellously organized for running, as the Hare and the Gazelle. Others hide themselves in subterranean retreats, which serve them at the same time as barns, in which to preserve their provisions against the winter: such are the Rat, the Marmot, &c. Others, like the Armadillo, present to their adversaries an invulnerable cuirass. Some, erecting their bristles, present to the enemy a forest of spikes. There is not one animal, however weak it may be, which has not its artifices and means of defence against its most terrible enemies. If it were otherwise, all of those feeble creatures would have been soon exterminated. Man has reduced to a state of domestication, and has subjugated to his will, so as to make of them useful assistants in his labours, sundry races of Mammalia. In the state of domesticity the animal undergoes a physical transformation, and its descendants become still more modified. We shall have to insist particularly, in this volume, on the manners and habits of domestic animals. The classification of the Mammalia which will be followed in this work is that of Cuvier, modified by the discoveries and observations of subsequent naturalists. True to our plan of exposition, we shall arrange the Mammalia according to the degree of the state of perfection of their organism. We will begin with those singular beings which hold the middle place between Birds, Fishes, and Mammalia, which are called Ornithorhynchine and Echidne, and of which De Blainville rightly made a separate order, under the name of Monotremata. 8 MAMMALIA, We shall then study the Marsupials, an anomaly of organization which is quite peculiar to them. Their young, instead of being born in the perfect state, as with the rest of the Mammalia, come into the world, if we may use the expression, unfinished, and are kept by the mother in a special pouch, until their more complete development is attained. After this order of abnormal Mammalia, will come an order which also presents considerable anomaly of organization—we mean the marine Mammalia, or Cetacea. Different from the majority of the Mammalia, in that the Cetacea are nearly all aquatic, and in the Whale, the Cachalot (Physeter), &c., the superior and inferior members are modified in such a manner as to remind one in no respect of the disposition of the members in other Mammalia. All of these singularities of structure justify us in giving them the place we do in the order of our distribution, which is founded on the increasing state of perfection of their organization. After the marine Mammalia, we place the Amphibia, which present the peculiarity of being constituted with a view to their double existence on land and in the water. After this series of what we may call abnormal orders of Mammalia, we pass on to the Mammalia of a more regular organization, but which are yet far from realizing all of the dispositions of the structure of the superior Mammalia: we allude to the Pachydermata and the Ruminantia, which are so far wanting in the sense of touch, that the principal organ of this sense, that is to say, the extremity of the members, is often partly enclosed in a horny casing, called the hoof. With the Pachydermata and the Ruminantia, we enter into a plan of organic structure already brought to a state of high perfec- tion, and this character is still more marked as we advance in the study of the rest of the Mammalia. The Edentata are those singular creatures, designated by the name of Sloths (Bradypus) and Armadillos (Dasypus), whose characteristic is the absence of the incisive teeth, and which sometimes have their bodies covered with scaly plates. But the Carnivora, the Rodentia, the In- sectivora, and even the Cheiroptera, present no longer any anomaly of organization, and answer exactly to the type, which we may call normal, representing this class of animals. The last order of Mammalia, the Quadrumana, contains MAMMALIA, 9 creatures superior, by their organization, to the rest of the animals which we have just passed in review. They are provided, indeed, for the most part, with an organ of prehension and of touch, which is wanting in other animals ; they have a hand, and this character accompanies a degree of intelligence higher than is generally found in the other orders of Mammalia. The Quadrumana constitute the last step on the ladder of the animal series. With them the animals culminate, and after them, in the order of creation, comes man alone, a superior being whom we nevertheless must physically compare with the rest of the animal creation. The following table sums up the classification of the Mammalia which will be followed in this work :— Ist Order, Monotremata. 2nd ,, Marsvuprata. 8rd 4, Crracga. 4th ,, AMPHIBIA. bth ,, PacHyDERMATA. 6th ,, Rumrnantia. 7th ,, Epzntara. 8th ,, Carnivora. 9th ,, Ropenria. 10th ,, Insecrrvora. llth ,, Cunrrorrera. 12th 4, Quvaprumana.* * The Mammalia have also been divided, primarily, into the sub-classes Jin- placentalia and Placentalia. The former of these comprises only the Monotremata and the Marsupiata. The latter fall into the leading series, which may be termed Zoophagoida and Phytophagoida ; the one subsisting mainly on animal products and the more highly azotized parts of vegetables, the other subsisting chiefly upon vegetable products, although subordinate exceptional cases occur in both instances. The Zoophagoida next divide into the true Cetacea on the one hand, and the rest of the contained orders on the other: the Phytophagoida, in like manner, divide into the Edentata on the one hand, and the rest of the contained orders on the other. The Cetaceca and the Edentata may be considered as the abnormal divisions of their respective series. The Zoophagoida culminate in Man; the Phytophagoida culminate in the Elephant group.—Ep. ORDER OF MONOTREMATA. “ Natura non facit saltum” was a dictum of Linnzus, which means that there exist between all living beings gradations and transi- tions, which render a rigorously exact classification very difficult, and sometimes impossible. We said in the preceding volume of this work: “ Nature makes transitions, Naturalists make divisions.” For, in fact, there do not exist in organised beings such accurately marked divisions as naturalists have invented for facilitating their studies. Allis connected and linked together in creation. Creatures pass insensibly, without fits or starts, from the simplest to the most complex organization; from the rudest to the most advanced. Nature arranges these transitions with infinite art; she softens down, by intermediate tints, the crudity which might result from the contrast of very different colours. All the parts of the grand work are thus blended together with a sublime harmony, which fills the soul of the observer with a well-merited admiration. We shall find in the first order of Mammalia a striking confirmation of these ideas.* The Monotremata resemble at the same time Mammalia, Birds, and Reptiles. In the Monotre- mata, as in birds, the urine, the excrements, and the products of generation, are evacuated by one common orifice, named the cloaca. The name Monotremata, given them by M. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, very well expresses this principal peculiarity of their organiza- tion: it signifies one single hole (n”6vog, single, alone; rpjua, an orifice). Nevertheless this characteristic alone would not suffice to enable us to recognise the animals which we are now occupied in considering ; for this is found equally among certain of the Edentata. And so De Blainville thought that we ought to substitute for the preceding denomination that of Ornitho- * It must not be supposed, however, that in the existent condition of the animal kingdom, there is a complete intergradation of all forms of life, such as the author apparently contends for. This is very far from being the truth —Ep, ORDER OF MONOTREMATA. 11 delphes, wishing to show by this name that the reproductive organs of these Mammalia, and the manner in which they accom- plish their generative functions, remind one, in different ways, of what passes among birds. However, this expression was never adopted, and we will preserve the first denomination, so as to comply with what is usually accepted. The Monotremata resemble birds again in their mouth, which is toothless, and which terminates in a sort of horny beak, of a rather singular form. They are like reptiles as far as the form of the shoulder is concerned, for it presents, as in the Saurians (Lizards and Cro- codiles), a double clavicle or collar-bone. In all other respects they are true Mammalia. They have mammée, very rudimentary indeed, but which secrete a milky fluid, destined to nourish their young. These glands are deprived of externally visible udders and are consequently scarcely notice- able, which explains how for a long time there were some who denied their existence. The Monotremata are provided with four unguiculated members; their bodies are covered with hair, and they have marsupial bones, like the animals which compose the second order of Mammalia, although these bones, in their case, do not support the pouch which is the distinguishing feature of the latter. Much discussion has taken place on the question as to whether the Monotremata are oviparous or viviparous. It has been well proved now that they give birth to their young alive; but it cannot be doubted that their mode of gestation differs greatly from that of the ordinary viviparous animals. All naturalists agree in saying that in this respect they resemble much the ovo-viviparous Vertebrata, that is to say, those in which the egg is hatched in the mother’s body, by interior and direct incubation ; such are the Viper among reptiles, and, among fishes, some of the Ray and Shark tribe. Only two families of Monotremata are at present known: viz. the Duckbill (Ornithorhynchus) and the Porcupine Ant-eater (Echidna). The discovery of these strange animals only dates back as far as the year 1722. The Ornithorhynchus and the Echidna inhabit exclusively Tasmania (or Van Diemen’s Land) and Australia, that country so remarkable for the singularity of its fauna, and in 12 MAMMALIA. which seem to be preserved the botanical and zoological types and creations belonging to very ancient periods of our globe. Tur Famry or Orxirnoruyncuus,—The Ornithorhynchus (“bird’s beak,” from dpe, a bird, and piyyos, beak) is an animal organised for the aquatic life. Its feet have five toes, terminated by stout nails. The front feet are completely palmated or webbed, and the interdigital membrane is very highly developed, for it Fig. 1.—Duckbill (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). extends beyond the nails. The tail is broad, of middling length, and flattened on its lower surface, to facilitate swimming. The beak is flattened, and is not much unlike that of a Swan or Duck. Two great horny excrescences, placed on each jaw, supply the place of molars. Its coat is pretty thick, and is of a brown colour, more or less tinged with russet. In the males, the heels of the posterior members are each armed with a spur or dew claw, pierced with a hole at its extremity. ORDER OF MONOTREMATA. 13 This spur allows to escape, at the will of the animal, a liquid, secreted by a gland which is situated on the thigh, and with which the spur communicates by a broad subcutaneous conduit. Various conjectures have been made on the part that this spur and the liquid with which it is furnished have to play. It was thought for a long time that they constituted their offensive and defensive weapons, and that the secretion was venemous, like that of the fangs of certain Snakes. What gave rise to this solution of the difficulty, was the story of an accident which had happened to a sportsman who was pricked by the spur of an Ornithorhynchus, a story which was transmitted in 1817 to the Linnwan Society of London, by Sir John Jameson, then residing in Australia. It was said that the hunter’s arm swelled up immediately after he had received the wound, and that all the symptoms of poisoning by a venom analogous to that of Snakes showed themselves. The evil at last yielded to external applications of oil, and to the internal use of ammonia; but the man was more than a month before he recovered the entire use of his limbs. Many modern travellers deny that the spur of the Ornithorhynchus is a dangerous weapon; some even affirm that the animal never uses it in its defence. What M. J. Verreaux states is no doubt true. According to that naturalist, the liquid secreted by the gland communicating with the spur has nothing venemous about it. The organ in question, very much developed in the males, is quite rudimentary in the females, and, as she ages, disappears entirely. In short, nothing is more singular than the organization of this animal, which resembles the Bird, the Fish, the Reptile, and the Mammalia, and which seems to have been created on purpose to drive the classifiers to despair. The Duckbill inhabits the sides of the lakes and the banks of the rivers of New Holland and Van Diemen’s Land. They dig burrows for themselves, and never leave them during the day. They are not, however, absolutely nocturnal. When they have a family to bring up,—their increasing wants giving them fresh energy,—they bravely face the light of the sun. They swim almost as rapidly as a fish, and run on land with no less facility; only they are obliged to come frequently to the surface of the water to breathe. They feed on aquatic grubs, on molluscs, and on worms; it is said that the mud even can serve 14 MAMMALIA. for their sustentation in default of other aliment. If one tries to catch them, they endeavour to bite; but their beak is too weak to do one any harm. It is at the bottom of their burrow, in a sort of nest formed of interlaced roots, that the females deposit their little ones. M.J. Verreaux was the first who described their mode of suckling their young. It appears that the mother makes her young ones follow her into the water, and that she diffuses her milk around her ; this liquid floats to the top of the water, and is immediately sucked up by her young. This manner of proceeding, which has no analogy in any other order of Mammalia, would suffice in itself alone to make the Duckbill one of the most astonishing of animals. This creature seems to accommodate itself to bondage very badly. Mr. Bennett possessed two young ones, which he had taken himself in a burrow; and although he had not removed them from their native country, and bestowed upon them the most assiduous atten- tions, he could not keep them alive: they died after five weeks of captivity. ‘‘They were,” says Mr. Bennett, “very frolicsome little things, and played like Inttens. They were very fond of dabbling about in a dish filled with water and furnished with a tuft of grass; they slept a great deal, especially during the day. Their food consisted of bread sopped in water, of hard boiled eggs, and meat chopped very fine.” Up to the present time only one species of Duckbill is known —the Ornithorhynchus anatinus—an animal of about the size of a small Otter, which is called by the Australian colonists “the River Mole.” No living specimen has ever been brought to Europe. Fasity or Ecrrna.—The Porcupine Ant-eaters have squat, thick-set bodies, low on their legs, the tail very short, the beak and tongue narrow and elongated, the toes armed with nails for digging, the back covered with prickles much thicker than those of the Hedgehog, intermingled with bristly hairs. The males have the spur, as in the Duckbill. They inhabit sandy places, dig themselves burrows in the sand, and live on ants, which they catch by projecting their tongue, covered with a viscous humour, into the dwellings of those insects. Hence the name of Myrmecophagi (eaters of ants), which was formerly given to ORDER OF MONOTREMATA, 15 them, but which is now restricted to the Ant-eaters proper of South America. We possess no further information respecting the Echidne. Some of these animals have lived in captivity. They remained during the greatest part of the time plunged in a sort of torpor, rolled up in a ball like the Hedgehog. They were not fierce, and seemed to take a pleasure in being caressed. Messrs. Quoy and Gaimard, who brought over in their ship, the Astrolabe, one of these animals, fed it on sugared liquids. One lived for about three years in the London Zoological Gardens. Fig. 2.—Porcupine Ant-eater (Echidna aculeata). The Echidna aculeata is two or three times as large as the European Hedgehog. It is found on the mainland of Australia ; being replaced in the island of Tasmania by a second species, the E. setosa, which has comparatively few prickles and much close fur between them. Some bones of a much larger extinct species have been discovered on the mainland of South Australia. ORDER OF MARSUPIATA. Tur Marsupials, called also Didelphes in Blainville’s classification, are characterised by the existence, on the anterior portion of the pelvis, of two long, narrow, articulated, and movable bones, which serve in the females, at least in the majority of the species, to support a pouch, situated below the abdomen, and called the marsupial purse or bag (marsupium, a purse). These bones, which have taken the name of marsupial bones, are not peculiar to the females; they occur also in the males. The animals which are provided with them constitute, therefore, a very great anomaly among the Mammalia, especially as this modification of the skeleton is connected with a very peculiar mode of generation. In the Marsupials, in fact, the young, when they leave the uterus, are not perfectly formed, as is the case with the rest of the Mammalia; they are prematurely expelled thence, and attain their full development in the abdominal pouch. Thence two phases in the gestation: the uterine gestation and the marsupial gestation ; the first relatively short, the second much longer. We thus find that these animals have, as we may say, two births: the one coin- ciding-with the arrival of the young one in the purse or bag; the other with its departure from this natural cradle, and its contact with the outer world. The duration of the gestation, considered “in its two elements, varies according to its species. In the larger Kangaroos the foctus is introduced into the pouch on or about the thirty-eighth day after fecundation, and it remains there for eight months. It is not, as one might suppose, by an internal foree—by a more or less energetic muscular action—that the transfer of the young from the uterus to the marsupial purse is effected. From the experiments of a learned English anatomist, Professor Owen, it appears that the mother herself draws them down, by ORDER OF MARSUPIALS. 17 seizing them with her lips. This is how she proceeds in this opera- tion : applying her two fore-paws with force to the sides of the pouch, she drags these sides in opposite directions, so as to distend them and enlarge the opening, as we do when we untie a small bag or purse. She then introduces her muzzle into the pouch, and lying on the ground, so as to be in the most favourable position, she extracts the foetus, which has passed through the first phase of its existence. Then, without its ever using its members, she places it over one of her mamme, which it would be powerless of itself to reach, and holds it there till it has seized the teat. Arrived at this point, the young one has no further need of its mother’s assistance ; it adheres firmly to the teat, and cannot be separated from it unless some external violence is used. Nevertheless, its strength is not yet sufficient to render it capable of self-sustenta- tion; that is to say, it is as yet incapable of sucking in the milk by which it is to be nourished. To prevent this from causing the young one to waste away and die of starvation, the female is pro- vided with a muscle, which, by contracting on the teat, causes the milk to be injected into its mouth. From what is stated above, we see that the essential difference between the Marsupials and the other Mammalia consists in their young requiring a mammary nourishment at a much less advanced period of their development. The marsupial bones, and the purse supported by these bones, are the consequences of this necessity. During the second period of gestation, the organization is com- pleted; the new creature approaches more and more to its perfect form and final state of development. In the larger Kangaroos, the hair appears in the sixth month. From the beginning of the eighth month, the young Kangaroo puts its nose frequently out of doors, that is to say, protrudes its head from the marsupial purse, and As a prelude to its approaching independent existence, nibbles here and there the tender grass. At last it makes its entrance into the world, and ventures a few timid jumps, as it follows its mother. It begins now to live on its own responsibility ; but for some time it will return to its former hiding-place, either to find there a place of refuge in case of danger, or by its mother’s milk to make up for the insufficiency of the nourishment which its weak state has allowed it to procure. So one may see sucking at the same time great young ones almost emancipated, and weak creatures the preduce of c 18 MAMMALIA. more recent litters, adhering to their respective mamma. It is for this reason that the female Marsupials always possess more mamme than the number of young produced at each litter. Nearly all the Marsupials belong exclusively to the Australian region ; where, moreover, very few other kinds of Mammalia are found. A single family, that of the true Opossums (Didelphide), inhabits America. That which is amazing is, that we find in this order a series of groups analogous to those of the ordinary Mammalia: Insectivora, Rodentia, Carnivora, Ruminantia, Quadrumana. Cuvier was not mistaken, therefore, when he wrote, in 1829, in his Régne Animal, “One should say that the Marsupials form a class apart, parallel to that of the ordinary quadrupeds, and divisible into like orders.” This opinion has been still further confirmed by the discovery of fossil remains belonging to some species of great size, which must have corresponded with our Pachydermata. Professor Owen and others have made out some fossilized species of this order which were considerably larger than a Horse. The remains of Marsupials have been collected in the gypsum strata near Paris, in Auvergne, and in England. In geological times, then, Europe possessed marsupial animals, and perhaps in avery remote age the Marsupials composed an entire class, parallel to that of the Mammalia, as Cuvier suggested.* The order of Marsupials is divided into four families, viz.: the Phascolomes, the Syndactyles, the Dasyures, and the Opossums or Didelphes. Tur Famity or THE Puascotomes.—The Phascolomes, or Wombats, are the representatives of the Rodentia among the Marsupials. Like them, they are characterised by the absence of the canine teeth and the existence of an unoccupied space between the incisors and the molars. Their toes, to the number of five to the extremity of each limb, are provided with nails, suited for digging. There is only one genus in this family, and it contains three well-determined species: the Common Wombat (Phascalomys wombat, Fig. 3), the Flat-nosed Wombat (P. platyrhinus), and. the * The most ancient of known Mammalia occur in the triassic formation. Others n the “‘dirt-bed’’ which underlies the lias. The Insectivora, as well as the Marsu- piata, appear to have had representatives at those exceedingly remote geological eras. All hitherto discovered were of diminutive size.—Ep. 7 ORDER OF MARSUPIALS. 19 Broad-fronted Wombat (P. latifrons). The bones of an extinct species (P. magnus) have also been satisfactorily determined. The Wombat is a thick-set dumpy animal, with no tail, a broad head, thick coat, and is a flat-footed walker. It has short ears and middling-sized eyes. It burrows in the ground, and lives on vegetable substances, especially roots. Of a mild but stupid character, it can be easily tamed, and might be made very profitable, for its flesh is good, and its fur, though coarse, might Fig. 3.—Common Wombat (Phascolomys wombat). be turned to some account. It would be worth while then to endeavour to acclimatise these animals in Europe. They inhabit New Holland and Tasmania. Size that of an ordinary Dog. Tur Famity or SynpacryiEs.—The Syndactyles (ovv, with or together, Sa%rvAoe, a finger or toe) are thus named because they have the second and third toes of the posterior members joined together under a common skin as far as the nail. The number of toes varies, however, according to the genera. The Syndactyles c2 20 MAMMALIA. live on the ground or on trees; the majority are herbivorous or frugivorous; some feed on insects. They contain four genera: the Kangaroos, the Phalangers, the Tarsipedes, and the Bandacoots. Kangaroos—The most prominent characteristic of the Kan- garoos is the relative disproportion of their anterior and posterior members. Whilst the former are short and weak, the latter are singularly long, thick, and strong. Thence the name of Macro- podes (large feet) which certain authors give to the Kangaroos. Fig. 4.—Giant Kangaroo (Mucropus major). The tail is long and powerful, and constitutes a sort of fifth member, destined to facilitate in the Kangaroos that mode of progression which is peculiar to them. Fig. 5 very clearly exhibits the structure of the organic framework of an ordinary Kangaroo; the disproportion which exists between its anterior and posterior members. It shows also the two bones called marsupial. Very curiously, however, in one of the arboreal Kangaroos (Dendrolagus ursinus) of New Guinea, the anterior limbs are even larger than the posterior; and in ORDER OF MARSUPIALS. 21 another species (D. inustus), inhabiting the same country, the fore and hind limbs are about equal; while in a third New Guinea species (Macropus Brunii) the fore limbs are unusually large for an animal of this group. According to circumstances, these animals walk or leap; and their tail plays a great part in either case. In walking they first place their four feet on the ground; then leaning on those which are in front and on their tail, stretched out like a rigid bar, they raise their hinder parts, bringing up at the same time their two posterior close to their two anterior legs, and moving the latter forward to begin again the same manceuvre, and so on repeatedly. One can understand that they cannot move very quickly in this way, and so they have recourse to another expedient when they are pursued, or when they want to leap over any obstacle they find in their road. The fore legs then remain unem- ployed; they hang idly along the body. Squatting on its hind legs, the tail stiff and leaning on the ground like a prop, as it does when the animal is walking, the Kangaroo bounds, as if it were propelled for- wards by a spring, and alights a little farther on, where it begins the same exercise over again, and thus on, indefinitely, till it chooses to stop. The larger species of Kan- garoo clear as much as 10 métres in length* in a single bound, and can jump from 2 to 3 métres in height. Nothing is more curi- ous than to see them traversing space with the rapidity of arrows, and, like the giants * The métre = 39:37079 inches. Fig. 5.—Skeleton of the Sooty Kangaroo. 22 MAMMALIA. we read of in mythology, receiving fresh vigour every time they touch the ground. To complete the portrait of the Giant Kangaroo, we must add that its muzzle is long and slender; its ears large and straight ; its body thin in front; very massive, on the contrary, behind ; that it possesses only four toes on the posterior extremities, and that one of these toes is provided with a most murderous nail; that its coat is composed of silky hair on the head, the members, and the tail, and of woolly hair on the rest of the body; lastly, that in its diet it is essentially herbivorous. The Kangaroos inhabit Australia and Van Diemen’s Land; three species only are found in New Guinea. They live in little troops, placed, it is said, under the direction of old males, and keep by preference to woody places. The females have one, or at most two young ones at a litter. Their flesh is excellent; they are accord- ingly keenly pursued by sportsmen, with Dogs trained especially for the purpose—a breed between the Mastiff and the Greyhound. The tail of these animals is not only an apparatus of propulsion, it serves them also as a defensive arm. Many a time have Kangaroos, pursued by Dogs, been seen to strike them heavy blows with their tails. But that which protects them more efficaciously than this organ against the attacks of their enemies is the powerful nail which terminates the fourth toe of their hind leg. Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire states that, to make use of it, the Kangaroo stands erect against a tree; leaning on this with its fore paws, it supports itself with its tail. This tree, or any other obstacle high enough for the purpose, is absolutely necessary to it, since, as it always moves its two hind limbs at the same time, it cannot lean upon one and employ the other in fighting. When a combat: takes place between two Kangaroos matters are arranged in a much simpler manner. The adversaries stand up face to face against each other, and tear each other’s bellies to pieces, as a couple of Japanese might do. The males alone fight in this manner amongst themselves. Kangaroos easily accommodate themselves to captivity; they bear the climate of Europe perfectly, and breed freely in our menageries. It would therefore be very desirable to encourage, by all means in our power, their multiplication in our country, as they have begun to doin England; especially as, says M. Florent- ORDER OF MARSUPIALS. 23 Prévost rightly, they are remarkable for their great development of those parts of which the meat is most esteemed, such as the loins, the buttocks, and the thighs. Certain species, moreover, have excellent and very choice fur. One might at the same time domesticate them, and let them live freely wild with Hares, Rabbits, and other game. Very curiously, these animals can move their large lower incisors so as to snip or cut the herbage in the manner of a pair of shears. About fifty species of Kangaroo are already known, varying Fig. 6.—Kangaroo Rat, or Putoroo. extremely in size. Some are more than a métre in length: for instance, the Giant Kangaroo (Fig. 4), the Red Kangaroo, &e. Others, and these are the greatest in number, do not exceed a métre. Lastly, there are some whose size is so small, that they have been called Kangaroo Rats (Fig. 6); they are also called Potoroos (Hypsiprymnus). Indeed, several other divisions have lately been established among the Kangaroos, the most remarkable of which is that of the Tree Kangaroos (Dendrolagus) ot New Guinea, which has been already referred to. These would appear to pass 24 MAMMALIA. their lives chiefly in the mangrove swamps that fringe the shores of parts of that great island, which are under water at high tide, the Tree Kangaroos traversing the branches of the mangroves with facility and speed. Certain fossil animals, of enormous size, have been discovered in the bone-caves, &c., of Australia, which are proved to have been gigantic Marsupials. Among them the Diprotodon Australis was even larger than a Rhinoceros, although akin to the Kangaroos. The Nototherium inerme and N. Mitchelli were equally stupendous marsupial animals which were probably allied to the Koala, or perhaps to the Wombats. The ThyJacoleo was at first supposed. to have been a huge marsupial carnivore, but opinions are at present divided as to the exact affinity of this great fossil beast, which has become exterminated within comparatively recent times. Phalangers.—In some of their characteristics, in their general form, and in their mode of life, the creatures belonging to the genus Phalanger bear a certain resemblance to Monkeys and Lemurs. They have the great toe of their posterior members opposable to their other toes, and without any nail; in the majority of these animals the tail is prehensile, as in some of the Monkeys of America. They inhabit forests, climb trees with moderate agility, and feed on fruits, to which they sometimes add birds’ eggs and insects. They are hunted and eaten, although they diffuse an unpleasant odour. Their size is either middling or small. They are divided into three groups: the Koala, the Phalangers properly so called, and the Petaurists. The Koala is characterised by a total absence of tail. Only one species is known. It is often designated by the colonists the native Bear, and is said to feed exclusively on green foliage, though probably also on fruits. Al efforts to bring it alive to Europe have failed hitherto (Fig. 7). The true Phalangers have the tail prehensile; some of them ure termed Couscous, which inhabit those islands of the Great Eastern Archipelago that are included in the Australian region. Fig. 8 represents the Sooty Phalanger. Lastly, the Petaurists, or Flying Phalangers, are provided with a parachute membrane between their flanks, and support themselves in the air after the manner of the Flying Squirrels. These species differ much in size. Tarsipedes and Bandacoots—There is little to be said about ORDER OF MARSUPIALS. 25 the Tarsipedes and Bandacoots. They are small marsupial animals, which have, especially the first, much analogy to the Phalangers. The Tarsipede is a pretty animal, hardly so large as a mouse ; its muzzle is elongated, and in form like a beak; and it feeds not only on insects, but also on the nectar of flowers. The Bandacoots do not live on trees; they have strong nails, and dig themselves galleries into which they retire. Insects and roots form the staple of their food. The great toe of their hind Fig. 7.— Koala (Phascolarctus cinereus). foot is not opposable. Indeed, they are more nearly analogous to the ordinary Insectivora. The finest species of true Bandacoot (Perameles lagotis) is about the size of a wild Rabbit, and bears the name of “native Rabbit” amongst the colonists. There are eight or ten others, one of which (P. doreyanus) inhabits New Guinea. Allied to them is a curious little animal of South Australia, known as the Pigfoot (Cheropus castanotis). Famity or Dasyurzs.—The Dasyures, true Carnivora of the Marsupial order, live but by slaughter and pillage. They have 26 MAMMALIA. three sorts of teeth ; a big toe, which is null or rudimentary on the hind feet ; sharp nails; the tail long and well covered with hair, but never prehensile. They are more or less nocturnal in their habits. Some attain toa rather large size, and are much dreaded by the Australian colonists, who rank them with certain species of true Carnivora. This family contains the genera Thylacin, Sarcophile, Dasyure properly so called, and Phascogale. The only species of the genus Thylacin (Fig. 9) is the strongest inners at pa Fig. 8.—Sooty Phalanger (Phalangista vulpina, Var.). and fiercest of all the Marsupials. It was formerly common in Tasmania, where it is often compared to the Wolf, as it is about the same size, and has the same sanguinary appetites as that animal. Like the Wolf, it frequently falls upon flocks of Sheep, which offer it an easy prey. Very common along the coast, it lives principally, it is said, on animal remains thrown up by the sea on to the shore; it also eats crabs. Although smaller than the above, the Sarcophile has the same spirit of destruction, the same taste for flesh: indeed, it subsists ORDER OF MARSUPIALS, 27 on nothing else. Of this genus there exists only one species, which inhabits Tasmania,* and which the English colonists in that country call Devi. This animal is of unparalleled ferocity and stupidity ; it would be in vain to attempt to tame it. It is short and thickset, strong, of about the same size as a Badger, and is a great ravager of poultry-yards; it even attacks small domestic quadrupeds. In their proportions and in all their habits, the Dasyures properly so called (Fig. 10), remind one of the Fig. 9.—Thylacin (Thylacinus cynocephalus). Marten, the Polecat, the Genet, &c. Their coat is soft, thick, and generally spotted. They live on small Mammalia and Birds, which they seize in their nests. Like the Sarcophile, the Dasyures make great havoc in poultry-yards. The Marsupials of the genus Phascogale are all of very * In a fossil state its remains have been found upon the mainland of South Australia, together with those of the Dingo, or semi-wild native Dog. Remains of an extinct Thylacin have likewise been discovered upon the mainland of Australia. —Ep. 28 MAMMALIA. diminutive size, and are rather Insectivora than Carnivora. They live almost entirely on trees, and it is there that they seek food. They vary in size, from that of the Mouse to that of the Brown Rat. The Banded Myrmecobe (Myrmecobius fasciatus) 1s a beautiful little animal, of the size of the Common Squirrel, which is remark- able for having as many as fifty-two teeth in all. It has a hand- some brush tail, and transverse stripes upon its back, somewhat as in the Thylacin. It inhabits the western portion of Australia. Fig. 10.—Spotted Dasyure (Dasyurus viverrinus). Tue Famity or Opossums.—The Opossums were the first- known species of Marsupials. They belong exclusively to the New World, where they are very commonly met with, from the more southern of the United States right away to Patagonia. They are climbing animals, in their appearance and diet resem- bling Carnivora, and which in size do not exceed that of our domestic Cat. Many of them are, indeed, much smaller. They have the thumbs opposable and nailless, the tail generally bare and prehensile for its terminal half, or more. Their mouth is ORDER OF MARSUPIALS. 29 provided with fifty teeth, perfectly organized for dismembering a living prey. They sally out at twilight or at night; during the day they lie hid in the midst of bushes, in hollow trees, or on branches. They feed on small quadrupeds, birds, eggs, insects, molluses, and even fruits or young vegetable shoots, from which they suck the sap. The females are remarkably prolific; they have from ten to fifteen young at a litter, and nurse their progeny with that tender solicitude which Florian has so well Fig. 11.—Female of Virginian Opossum (Didelphis) with her young. described in his pretty fable of La Sarigue et ses Petits. One of the largest species is the Virginian Opossum (Fig. 11). This animal is particularly fond of the eggs of the wild Turkey, and it seeks for them with avidity. They sometimes make incursions upon poultry-yards, and then the carnage which they perpetrate is something fearful. If the Opossum is surprised by the farmer « flagrante delicto,” it lies down on the ground, counterfeits death, and takes any amount of beating without wincing ; but as soon 30 MAMMALIA. as the man, thinking that he has killed it, turns his back, the rogue decamps as fast as he can, and regains the forest.* The Opossum is ferocious, and will not allow itself to be tamed. The Crab-eating Opossum is a species of about the same size as the preceding. It owes its name to its peculiar diet. Living on the sea-shore, it feeds principally on crabs, which it captures very adroitly. It is found in the Brazils and in Guiana. More than twenty other species are known to naturalists, all of them being peculiar to South America, with the exception of the Virginian Opossum. It is remarkable that there are not any in the Antilles or West Indian Islands. Buffon describes, under the name of the “ Small Otter of Guiana,” a species of Opossum hardly as large as the Brown Rat, and which owes to its hind feet being webbed its power of swimming like the Otter. It is the Yapock (Chironectes variegatus) of modern natu- ralists, who have raised it to the dignity of a genus, chiefly on account of this peculiarity. They have also established another genus for a certain number of species, in which the abdominal pouch is replaced by a simple fold of skin, insufficient for protecting the little ones during mammary gestation. The mode of generation is, however, the same in these Marsupials as in all the others; only when they begin to walk, and any danger threatens them, the young ones, instead of taking refuge in their mother’s pouch, as do the little Kangaroos, &c., mount on her back, and aid themselves in holding on by twining their tails round their mother’s tail. This sight greatly excites the curiosity of those travellers who witness it for the first time.t * Many animals, of various classes, do the same, especially numerous insects. A Fox has been scen to counterfeit death ; and one of the most extraordinary cases of the kind which we happen to have personally witnessed occurred in the instance of a Jackal worried by Dogs, in India.—Ep. + In the Australian colonies the names of familiar animals inhabiting other parts of the world are transferred, and are misapplied to the indigenous Marsupials. Thus the Thylacin is known as the native Wolf, Tiger, and Hyena; the Dasyures are styled native Cats, the Koala is the native Bear, the Wombat the native Badger, the Long-eared Bandacoot is the native Rabbit, and the Phalangers and Petaurists are native Squirrels and Flying Squirrels. Again, the monotrematous Echidna is the native Porcupine, and the Duckbill is the Water Mole.—Ep. ORDER OF CETACEA. Tur Cetacea are essentially aquatic animals, externally resem- bling Fishes, but belonging really, by their whole structure, to the class of Mammalia. They would indeed be strange Fishes, these creatures, which have mamme with which to suckle their young, which breathe not by gills, but by lungs, and which have a heart provided with two ventricles and two auricles. The Cetacea, then, are Mammalia. Only, instead of being organized for living on land, they are admirably suited for the water; some of them acquire enormous dimensions, and are the giants of the animal kingdom. Their body, more or less spindle-shaped, is terminated behind in a tail, which becomes so broad as to form a fin; this fin is trans- versal, not vertical as in fishes. The tail is the principal agent in moving these living masses. On the back of most of the Cetacea there exists another fin, which is merely a modification of the skin. _The Cetacea have no posterior members. Their anterior members are transformed into natatory paddles, which are of com- paratively little use for locomotion through the water, and of which the principal use, no doubt, is to balance their movements. These anterior members, thus changed into flippers, present, essen- tially, the same structure as does the corresponding member in other Mammalia—the paw of the Dog, the wing of the Bat, &c. Their nostrils open, in general, from the upper part of the head. Owing to this position of the nostrils, which are placed higher than the mouth, these animals can breathe the air without coming too much out of the water. These same organs play still another part, which we will describe presently. The skin of Cetacea is generally quite hairless, which very rarely happens in the case of other Mammalia. Their teeth are mostly conical, uniform, and sometimes numerous. All their tissues, but especially their sub-cutaneous cellular tissue, are impregnated with 32 MAMMALIA. oily fat. Their blood is warm. Their cerebral hemispheres are highly developed, and folded in numerous circumvolutions. Such are the principal characteristic features of the Mammalia which compose the order of Cetacea. The largest of other animals are small when compared with many of the Cetacea; these colossal creatures, however, swim with more or less rapidity. In consequence of the air contained in their chest, the great quantity of grease with which their tissues are charged, and the vigour of their caudal flukes, they move easily through the waves, looking with voracity for fish, molluscs, and crustacea, of which they consume an enormous quantity. Whaling for these great Cetacea involves very important nautical expeditions, and furnishes the raw material for the manu- facture of animal oils, elastic fibres, and some ivory. This order is divided into two principal families, which are’ distinguished by the food they eat, by their teeth, and, above all, by the position of their nostrils. These are the ordinary or blowing Cetacea and the herbivorous Cetacea. These two families comprise a very great number of species, nearly all of which are marine.* Famity or Biowrne, or Sprouting Crracea.—tThe blowing Cetacea have their nostrils pierced on the upper surface of the head, and their nasal cavities present a peculiar arrangement, which allows these animals to appear to throw up a column of water above their head. The narrow opening of the blowing Cetacea has received the name of spiracle or blow-hole. Their mammz are placed near the termination of their bodies. Their teeth, when they have any, are pointed; but in some cases the teeth are replaced by a very peculiar apparatus, of which we shall speak presently. These animals are carnivorous. The family of blowing Cetacea, or ordinary Cetacea, is divided into two tribes, which are easily distinguished by the relative size of the head: the tribe of Whales (Balena), in which the head constitutes in itself one-fourth or even one-third of the total length of the creature, and that of the Dolphins, in which the head is in the usual proportion to the body. * Professor Owen has shown that the so-called herbivorous Cetacea are more nearly related by true affinity to the order Pachydermata, and most naturalists now regard them as constituting a peculiar order, which was named Syrenia by the late Professor de Blainville.—Ep. ORDER OF CETACEA. 33 The Cetacea of the tribe of Whales (Balenidw) owe the enor- mous development of the head, not to the brain nor to the skull, which preserve their ordinary proportions, but to the bones of the face, which acquire enormous dimensions. They comprise the genus Whale and the genus Cachalot or Sperm Whale.* Whales are divided into two sections, Whales properly so called, and Rorquals. The Whales properly so called are the Greenland or Right Whale (Balena mysticetus), another species in the Northern Pacific, and two or more species in the Antarctic Ocean. These animals are the especial object of desire of whalers in both hemispheres. They resist the attacks of man less than the others, and for a long time have yielded very abundant products. What we are going to say on Whales will, then, apply particularly to the Right Whale of the Arctic Regions. The Right Whales are not, as commonly supposed, the largest of marine animals, and indeed of all animals whatever, existent or extinct, for they do not attain such enormous dimensions as some of the Rorquals. According to Scoresby, the Greenland Whale does not exceed seventy fect in length, and its geographical range is con- fined within the limits of the Arctic Circle. But the Right Whales are considerably the most bulky in proportion to their length. Whales are by most people considered as shapeless masses, as if these creatures, which far exceed all others in length and bulk, differed from them also by being wanting in those proportions which we consider as allied to beauty. Let us examine, however, this mass, shapeless in appearance, and let us see if it does not, on the contrary, present a well-arranged whole.t The body of the Right Whale (Fig. 12) has the form of an immense and irregular cylinder, the diameter of which is about a third of its length. Theanterior portion of this enormous cylinder is the head, of which the size is a third of the whole animal. Convex above, the head represents very nearly a portion of a sphere. Slightly behind the middle of this sphere rises an * The Cachalots belong properly to the Dolphin series, and the remainder, or true Whales and Rorquals, are toothless, and provided with flakes of Jaleen (popularly styled whalebone).—Ep. : : P + Inall of the Cetacea the skull is unsymmetrical as viewed from above, except in the Susus (Platanista, and perhaps Inia). The single tusk of the Narwhal again exemplifies a irregularity ; and whalers assert that the Cachalots are always blind on one side, of which circumstance they endeavour to take advantage.— Ep. D | ORDER OF CETACEA. 35 eminence, in which are pierced the orifices of the two spiracles or blow-holes. The mouth is enormous; it is prolonged to a point beneath the upper orifices of the blow-holes, and extends almost as far as the base of the flipper. The interior of this ‘mouth is so vast that, in a Whale which did not quite measure twenty-four métres in length, two men could stand upright. This mouth, the interior of which sometimes attains to three métres in breadth and four in height, has no teeth. It has on the upper jaw long, narrow blades, which are called flakes or plates of baleen (whalebone). Each flake is flattened, and rather resembles, in its curve, the blade of a scythe. It is inflected in the direction of its length, diminishing gradually in height and thickness, and terminating in a point. Its concave side is shaped like the edge of a scythe, and is split into hairs, which form a long and tufted sort of fringe. The whalebone plates are generally black, streaked with colours of a lighter tint. It is not rare to find plates of whale- bone five métres long, and the mouth of the Whale generally contains seven hundred of these plates. What is called in the trade whalebone, is nothing but one of these flakes. The value of the whalebone furnished by each Whale is not less than from £160 to £200. This gigantic mouth—toothless, but richly provided with organs that replace them—contains an enormous tongue, which is some- times as much eight métres in length and four métres in breadth. This is like a thick mattress—soft, full of grease, and which pro- duces from five to six barrels of oil. The eye of the animal is placed, oddly enough, immediately above the commissure, or point of union, of the lips, and, conse- quently, very near the shoulder. There is a very great space between the two eyes, so that either eye can only see the objects on its own side of the animal. This organ is, however, set in a kind of small convexity, which, rising above the surface of the lips, allows the animal to see with both of its eyes an object at a little distance. But what is strange, is the smallness of this eye, which it is often almost difficult to discover. It is provided with eyelids, like the eyes of other Mammalia; but these eyelids, unprovided with D2 36 MAMMALIA. eyelashes, are so much swollen by the oily grease which occupies their interior, that they are almost incapable of being moved. From the structure of this eye, Lacépéde has concluded that it is perfectly adapted for aquatic media. According to this naturalist, Whales have an excellent eye-sight. 5 We must add that this great Cetacean has the senses of smell and hearing acute, so that it is warned from afar of the presence of any odorous bodies, and that it hears at very great distances sounds or even slight noises. The Whale has two anterior limbs, or flippers, of about three métres in length and two métres in breadth. The body is dis- tinguished from the head by being slightly depressed. To the body, properly so called, is applied the base of the tail, which is conical, composed of vigorous muscles, and terminating in a large horizontal fin. This fin, nearly triangular in form, is not less than from six to seven métres in breadth. The tail fin of the Whale constitutes its most powerful instru- ment of natation; but we must not forget its arms, or flippers, which, on account of their form and dimensions, can also play the part of oars. The skin of the Whale is strong, more than two decimétres in thickness, and is perforated with great pores; but it is not covered with hair, as is the case with most of the Mammalia. The epidermis which covers it is smooth, glossy, oily, and so bright, that the animal, when exposed to the rays of the sun, shines like polished leather. The Whale is generally black in colour. It is sometimes, how- ever, black tinged with grey. The under part of the head and belly are often white. After this glance at the exterior conformation of this huge Cetacean, let us see what are its habits—its mode of. existence. We will speak first of its movements, taking as our guide the interesting work published by Dr. Thiercelin, under the title, Journal of a Whaler.* The Whale passes a part of its time at the surface of the water, and the other part in the bosom of the ocean, at a depth from two to three hundred fathoms. When it is preparing to leave those depths, a broad. sort of whirlpool shows itself on the surface of the * Journal d'un Baleinier, tome i. pp. 227—231. ORDER OF CETACEA. 37 water, and announces its arrival. First one sees a black point emerge: this is the end of its muzzle. Very soon the blow-holes appear, then a part, more or less long, of the surface of its back, till the tail in its turn appears. At the same time that the blow-holes arrive at the surface of the water, a double column of white vapour, more or less thick, rises in the form of a V to many métres in height. After this blowing, the vents or blow-holes are again emerged ; and during thirty or forty seconds the animal glides along level with the water, in such a manner that the spectator can perceive through the water which covers it the bluish tint of its body. A minute afterwards, the black point reappears, then the blow-holes, and then the blowing or spouting. This alternation of respiration and of progression at the surface of the water goes on for eight or ten minutes. During this time there have been seven or eight jets of liquid. The first is denser than the following ones; the last, which is as dense, and which lasts as long as the first, announces that the Whale is going to dive again. It does, in fact, rise a little higher out of the water this time than at the preceding blowings, and at last has only its tail out of water: it balances this many times backwards and for- wards, and then descends into the depths of the sea: these are what are called es sondes—the soundings or diggings of the Whale. It remains below for thirty or forty minutes, and sometimes for more: it then returns to the surface and reproduces its irregular and periodical spoutings. It is thus, says M. Thiercelin, that Whales pass their lives ; sometimes on the surface of the water, sometimes below, day and night, in fair weather or in foul weather, at all seasons. For this reason, some people have said that it never sleeps. If the Whale sleeps—which it is certain that it does—these alternate movements are made during its sleep, necessitated by the wants of respiration, and must therefore be automatic, like the respiratory movements. When the Whale breathes, the noise of its breathing can be heard at some hundreds of métres only, if it is in a calm state. But when it is agitated by fear or by anger, the noise of its breathing may be heard at a distance of some kilométres. Dr. Thiercelin compares it to the noise of a strong column of air driven by a very large pair of smiths’ bellows into a great tube 38 MAMMALIA. of copper or brass: it is a very deep and very loud sound, sus- tained during eight or ten seconds. According to the same observer, the spout is not formed of any liquid water: it is composed at one and the same time of hot air issuing from the chest, of a certain quantity of vapour of water, mixed with this air, and of greasy particles. So, when the temperature is rather high, the sea calm, and, above all, when the sun is near the zenith, this blowing, or spouting, is in- visible. When the vapour from this blow-spout is disseminated into the air, it dissolves—all disappears: there falls nothing but a few little drops of greasy matter. These drops, diffused over the surface of the water, and joined to the exhalations of the skin, leave on the surface of the sea long trails of oily spots, which show the way by which the Whale has passed. At all events, there is always a certain quantity of water, which has penetrated into the aérial canal terminated by the blow-hole, and this water (about one or two litres) is mixed in a state of minute subdivision or particles, with the respired air, and disseminates itself in the atmosphere, like the pulmonary moisture. In speaking above of the habits of the Whale, we only pointed out, with Dr. Thiercelin, that it was continually ‘moving on.” But at what rate does it proceed when it is travelling along? Lacépéde affirms that it travels over 660 métres a minute: that it goes quicker than the trade winds. If it went twice as fast as it actually does, that it would beat the most impetuous winds; if thirty times, it would traverse space as quickly as sound. Starting from this hypothesis, Lacépéde makes another curious calculation. Supposing that twelve hours of repose a day is sufficient for the Whale, it would take only forty-seven days in going round the world, following the equator, and twenty-four days in going from one pole to the other along a meridian line. These calculations of the illustrious French naturalist are based upon a rather exaggerated estimate of the animal’s speed. On the other hand, certain authors, keeping no doubt within the truth, have affirmed that the Whale travels over only three marine leagues an hour. This is the opinion of the too ingenious Boitard.* * Le Jardin des Plantes de Paris. The fact is, that the higher rate of speed denotes the pace of the Rorquals, and the lower rate of speed that of the Right Whales. The former are conspicuously fast-built, the latter slow and barge-like. —Ep. ORDER OF CETACEHA. 39 To keep up life in the whole of the immense organization of the Whale, to give it strength for its continual motion, to keep up the breath which gives life to these extraordinary creatures, what quantity of aliment, what peculiar food is necessary ? This food is composed of but very small creatures. Lacépéde says the Whale feeds chiefly on mollusks and crabs. The number of these animals swallowed by the huge Cetacean compensates for their smallness of size. According to Dr. Thiercelin, in the whaling-grounds, in spring, and still more in summer, the sea is, in places, of a brown colour. This colour is due to small crustaceans, which are somewhat of the shape of Lobsters, but of which the greatest diameter does not exceed two millimétres. These crustaceans form banks of animal matter, which the whalers call boé¢e, and which are ten, fifteen, or twenty leagues in length, by some leagues in breadth, and are three or four métres in thickness. Here is a banquet well served, if not for the size of the prey, at any rate, as far as the mass which constitutes it is concerned! The Whale wanders up and down these rich banks, and browses, as we may say, in this immense and fertile pasturage. Dr. Thiercelin gives some details as to the manner in which the Whale seizes its food. It lowers its under jaw, spreads its tongue out well on the lower maxillary plate, and advances gently into the midst of this swarm of minute creatures, which it is about to swallow. The mouth, if such an enormous opening can be called a mouth, then presents an anterior aperture, in shape, that of an irregular triangle, the span of which is from six to seven metres. As the Whale advances, the water which it passes through, and which enters into its mouth, escapes laterally by the intervals which separate the whalebone plates, whilst the boete adheres to the hairs of the whalebone plates, and adheres to the palate. When it has thus passed over a space of from forty to fifty métres, it slackens its pace, raises its lower jaw, applies its lips to the whalebone plates, and distends its tongue in such a way that it occupies the whole of its mouth, now closed. The water escapes through the interstices of the whalebone plates; the point of the tongue gathers together by a rotatory movement all the animalcula caught on the interior hairs, makes them up into an alimentary bolus, and conveys them 40 MAMMALIA. to the entrance of the cesophagus, and thence into the stomach. This done, the Whale then lowers its jaw again, and recommences its easy mode of feeding. It seems difficult to us to believe that the Whale feeds only on these diminutive crustaceans. Why should it reject meduse, mollusks, and even some fishes ? But the Whale does not confine itself to moving about, to going from place to place, to travelling, or to feeding, in order to keep up its immense organism. It is necessary also for it to perpetuate its species. At the beginning of spring, then, one sees the males going about by themselves, in search of the females. We soon meet with groups of six or eight Whales, seldom more. When a male and female have paired for the season, the happy couple isolate themselves from the little group, and set out, side by side, on their nuptial tour. They travel, they play, they feed together. On these occasions they make gigantic leaps; they turn over and over many times, the water is agitated, and boils around them for a very great distance. The males now go in advance to choose the maritime creeks in which the females may give birth to their young. After having inspected these places, they return. The females then come and instal themselves in a well-sheltered bay, over a deep layer of sand. They bring forth their young in the middle of autumn. Scarcely is the young Whale born before it turns over and swims round its mother. She now places herself on her side to suckle it, in such a manner that her teat is on a level with the surface of the water.* After a great many useless attempts, the young one takes the teat between its palate, which is not yet armed with perfect whale-bone plates, and its tongue, which is already much developed, and sucks in its mother’s milk. What a nurse, and what a nursling! How many quarts of milk does it absorb at each suction ? But the young Whale is soon weaned. At the end of six weeks or two months, its whalebone plates have grown, and it can catch its own food itself in the bosom of its great nurse, the Ocean! Its mother has for it an ardent and excessive love. She watches over, she guides, she defends it ; to save its life she sacrifices her own. * There is no externally prominent teat or mammella.—Ep. ORDER OF CETACEHA. 41 When a whaler is near a mother and her young one, he begins by attacking the young Whale, which is less strong, less active and less experienced than its mother. But the mother places herself between her nursling and its aggressor. She pushes the little one with her flippers and her body, so as to accelerate its escape. If, in spite of these encouragements, it cannot swim fast enough to escape from the danger, she passes one of her flippers under its belly, she raises it, and, holding it thus firmly fixed against her neck and back, she escapes with it. Admirable and touching sight, which shows us, in the depths of the ocean, and in the hearts of the most gigantic creatures, the wondrous sentiment of maternity ! Let the tender-hearted reader rejoice! The Whale-mother sometimes succeeds in carrying off its little one safe and sound. But her vigilance and activity are often baffled by the terrible arms of man. She then shows her pain by the vivacity and the irregularity of her movements. She does not give up the task of saving her dear little wounded one. Forgetful of her own safety, she resolutely seizes hold of it again, at the risk of perishing with it, and she receives a mortal wound rather than abandon her young, which she has uselessly defended. This, however, is the only phase in its life in which the Whale shows any courage and resists its enemies. When it is not a mother it is extremely timid. The male shows great devotion for his female. When she is attacked he makes repeated efforts to save her. He passes and repasses round her ; he tries to set her free from the weapon that has wounded her, and if he does not attack her aggressors, neither does he abandon his companion, and often ends by perishing with her, a victim to his devotion. This giant of the seas has other enemies besides Man; the most dangerous, the most cruel, after him, is said to be the Narwhal (Monodon monoceros). According to Lacépéde, these Narwhals, assembling in a troop, advance in line of battle against the Whale, attack it on all sides, bite it, harass it, fatigue it, force it to open its mouth, and then they devour its tongue. Lacépéde goes on to say that the Narwhals, and also the Sword- fish, stab it with their long weapons, and that Sharks, burying in its belly their five rows of pointed and jagged teeth, tear from 42 MAMMALIA. it with these terrible pincers enormous pieces of integument and muscles. According to the same author, the wounded Whale, having lost a quantity of blood, worn out with fatigue, can now be attacked by White Bears—voracious and formidable animals, which hunger renders still more daring. When the Whale is dead its immense floating carcass becomes an easy prey to the Dog-fish, the sea-birds, and the White or Polar Bears. We must further mention, among the enemies of the Whale, cer- tain mollusks and crustaceans, which adhere to its skin and multiply on itas on a rock. Thus fixed on the back of the Whale these little animals become the prey of sea-birds, which come and satisfy their taste or their hunger on the back of the gigantic Cetacean, which is of advantage to it, however, in disembarrassing it of such hosts of parasites. Whales frequent only the cold seas. It has been affirmed that they have never been met with in the torrid zone, and that the equator is for them an impassable barrier. The principal points with which they are met with in the north are Greenland, Spitzbergen, Davis’s Straits, Behring’s Straits, the Sea of Okhotsk, Japan, the north-west coast of America, &c. In the southern hemisphere one may say that they are found in all latitudes, from the thirty-fourth or thirty-fifth degree to the polar circle. We will mention as the principal points the western and southern coasts of Africa, the Islands of Tristan d’Acunha, the Cape of Good Hope, the islands Mauritius, Madagascar, St. Paul, Amsterdam; Australia, New Zealand, Chili, Cape Horn, the Falk- land Islands, the coast of Brazil, &c.* It is impossible, however, to point out exactly the principal points where, at any given time, Whales are sure to be found. For reasons which are unknown, or only guessed at, it emigrates suddenly from one of the maritime regions where it had been up to that time. They call by the name of fishing-grounds those latitudes in which, at certain periods of the year, the Whale is to be met with in greater or less numbers. These periods are called the fishing seasons. They are determined by the temperature and by the presence of the Whale’s food, of that boéte which we spoke about before. * The geographical range of the Rorquals is here confounded with that of the Right Whales.— Ep. ORDER OF CETACEA. 43 In a given latitude a distinction is made, according to the habits of the Whale, between the open-sea season, that is to say the season in which the Whale keeps at twenty, thirty, or forty leagues from land, and the bay season, a period at which the Whale comes near the land, and confines itself to places where the water is shallow, sheltered from the wind, in a bay, or a creek, near a coast. The open-sea season is in the spring and summer, the bay season in the autumn and winter. No Cetacea are to be found on the fishing-grounds out of those two seasons. Though always obedient to the seasons, these animals never- theless leave their habitual places of abode, or cease to return to them, when they have been pursued there during many years by numerous whalers; or else when, for some mysterious reason, their food has become less abundant there. It is not known, however, whither they go when they leave those lati- tudes. Before describing the Whale fishery, as it is inappropriately styled, and making known the weapons and processes at present made use of in it, we will glance at the history of this branch of marine industry. Who can tell now where the first Whale was killed? One can only make conjectures on this point. The temperature of the medium in which the Whale lives has a great influence over the rapidity of its movements—over its sensibility. In the seas of the extreme north its movements are slow; it feels pain very little, it makes but a poor defence of itself, and flees before its pursuers but slowly.* It was then, without doubt, in these regions that the courageous idea of attacking this colossus of the sea was first conceived. The inhabitants of the northern countries were the more incited to this enterprise as they saw in these monstrous creatures an immense reservoir of oil, a matter of which they stood so much in need; a provision of meat which, when frozen, kept through the whole winter; bones suitable for the framework of their dwelling-places, and diverse other useful products, furnished by the intestines and the tendons of this gigantic object of pursuit. Most extravagant tales have been told about the primitive hunting of the Whale. It is said that when the savages of Florida perceived a Whale, one of them got on its back, drove a plug into * Here, again, the Whales and Rorquals are confounded.—Eb. 44 MAMMALIA. one of its blow-holes, followed it to the bottom of the sea, came up again with it to the surface, closed the other blow-hole with a second plug, and so caused it to die of suffocation. This is simply impossible. The ancient Esquimaux employed in attacking the Whale a very ingenious system, which they still put in practice at the present day. They surround the Whale they want to take in little canoes. Those who man these canoes, throw at it arrows or harpoons, attached to hollow balls of large dimensions, and which are made of seal-skin, of the intestines of Cetacea, &c. When the animal wishes to plunge, it cannot manage it, for these balls buoy it up, and it is obliged to remain near the surface of the water. It advances very gently in this position, so that it cannot escape from the blows of its enemies, who thus slowly, but surely, kill it. We now arrive at the period when whaling was practised, not by the savage inhabitants of Northern Europe and America, but by civilised people. It is in a book which dates back as far as the year 875, Miracles de Saint Waast, that we find the first mention made of the syste- matic pursuit of Whales. The people of Biscay were those who were engaged in it. Nearly about the same time, Otherus, a German navigator, visited the coasts of Norway, to the North Cape, and pushed on as far as the entrance into the White Sea. He met in these northern seas quantities of fishermen, and saw more than two hundred Whales taken in two days. From the eleventh to the twelfth century this branch of in- dustry took root in Flanders and in Normandy, and the principal whaling ships were fitted up in the ports of these countries. The author of a Life of St. Arnould, Bishop ef Soissons, describes the form of the harpoons, the way in which they were used, and enumerates the tithes paid by the whalers to the ecclesiastics of that canton. In the twelfth century, the Norwegian sailors carried on the pursuit of Whales with great activity. In the fourteenth century, the sailors of Biscay began to under- take regular expeditions to the northern seas; their ships were fitted out in the different harbours along our (French) sea-shore. Their expeditions were always crowned with success, for they came back each year with a full cargo. It was then that the ORDER OF CETACEA. ‘45 classic process of hunting was established and regulated, of which we shall soon have to treat. From the year 1372 whalers from Biscay arrived at the great bank of Newfoundland, whence they pushed on as far as the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the coasts of Labrador. In the fourteenth century, whaling vessels were fitted out at Bordeaux for the Arctic Seas, which went up as far as Greenland, and even to Spitzbergen. The success of the people of Biscay excited the jealousy and the cupidity of other nations. As they were not protected by the national flag, they were interfered with, and were at last excluded from the whaling-grounds, either by force or by heavy contributions being levied on them; and so, from the commencement of the seventeenth century, their trade began to decline. It was defini- tively lost for them and for France, when, in 1636, the Spaniards seized upon fourteen large ships manned by Biscayans, which had just returned from Greenland, with rich cargoes. of blubber and whalebone. The Biscayan whalers now decided to play only a secondary part. They found themselves reduced to act as guides to their powerful rivals; they taught the art of whaling to the Dutch, and even to the English. With the Dutch the pursuit and capture of Whales became rapidly of very great importance. Supported by rich companies, this new field of enterprise became a source of great prosperity for Holland, until the beginning of the eighteenth cen- tury. But at this period it was paralysed by the maritime war ; and after the peace it was never again started on the same scale. Whilst the whaling was giving to the Dutch such splendid results, it did not prosper in the hands of English outfitters and sailors. But this persevering and active nation redoubled its efforts, so as to ensure success. In 1732 England granted rich prizes to all whaling ships, and even went so far as to double those prizes in 1749. From that time forwards this branch of maritime industry increased rapidly in England. Pursued in their natural latitudes by a merciless war, the Whales gradually took their departure, going more and still farther north. ‘Till towards the fifteenth century, the whaling went on along the French coasts of the ocean, that is to say, in the Gulf of Gascony.* It was, as we have said, the privilege of the * There is no reason to suppose that the Greenland Right Whale ever inhabited 46° MAMMALIA. Biscayans. But from the sixteenth century, the Whales, having become more timid, took refuge in the seas of Greenland and of Spitzbergen. They were then very numerous near the coasts and creeks or coves. The whalers very quickly got full cargoes when they remained near the land. Troops of Whales swam with con- fidence along the coasts and bays in the immediate vicinity of Greenland and Spitzbergen. They did not flee from the ships, and surrendered themselves without offering any defence to the avidity of the whalers. The Dutch had even built, in the island of Amsterdam, the village of Smeerenbourg (village of grease). They here established warehouses and supplies of different sorts of goods. In the wake of their fleets of whaling ships they sent out other vessels, laden with wine, brandy, tobacco, and eatables. In these establishments they melted down the fat of the Whales they had brought there dead, and then brought the oil to Europe. But very soon the Whales became timid and altogether shy. They emigrated gradually and slowly, as if they quitted with regret the coasts and the bays where they were born, where, free and happy, they had lived and multiplied. They gained the regions of moving ice, whither the whalers soon pursued them. They then went and hid themselves under the fixed ice; and, as their principal place of refuge, they chose the immense crust of ice, which the Dutch have named West-ys (the western ice). The whalers invaded this motionless ice. Pushing their boats on to the very edge of it, they looked out for the moment when the Whales were forced to quit this protecting vault, to come and breathe above the water. Thus it was that the whalers were obliged to abandon the waters of Spitzbergen, to go towards the great bank of ice which bounds, on the north-west, the Sea of Greenland. It is principally in these latitudes, that is to say, towards 78° or 81° north latitude, or in Davis’s Straits, near the Isle of Disco, that whaling has been pursued with the greatest activity since the middle of the seventeenth century. But these last-named seas have been deserted in their turn, so that the English whalers are obliged now to pass over the ice in Baffin’s Bay, as far as the the northern temperate zone, at least under present conditions of temperature. Rorquals were formerly much more common in these latitudes; but a Balena Biseayensis is still believed in by some naturalists.—Ep. ORDER OF CETACEA. 47 straits of Lancaster, and even as far as Melville Bay. If it be true that there exists round the North Pole a sea free of ice during the summer season, as the hardy pioneers who are starting at this very moment to discover this Arctic Sea assert, it is probable that very numerous Whales will be found which have taken refuge in those latitudes as yet unknown to man. It is not only towards the arctic seas that the whalers have pushed their courageous expeditions. The antarctic regions have been equally explored. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, whalers from Massachusets (America) began to take the direction of the South Pole. They sailed along by Cape Verd, the south-west coast of Africa, Brazil, and Paraguay, to the Falk- land Isles. Since then the English have also gone whaling in the south, and the ships of these two nations have ploughed up, not only the southern parts of the Atlantic Ocean, but the whole extent of the Great Ocean. The Americans have now more than 300 whaling ships, all of which bring in large profits. Some, but a very few, French ships, have explored the same latitudes. The west coast of Africa, the Bay of Lagos, the mouth of La Plata, the coasts of Patagonia, New Holland, Tasmania, New Zealand, and the Sandwich Islands are the principal regions frequented by the whalers of the two worlds. As for the ancient hunting-grounds, we have already said that they are unstocked. The appearance of a Whale in the Gulf of Gascony is now an unheard-of event.* The coast of Greenland, which was an excellent station, is now deserted. Baffin’s Bay has been exhausted by the English ; and Davis’s Straits, which was visited at the beginning of our century by more than a hundred whaling ships, belonging to different nations, counts only six or seven, which are not even sure of bringing home cargoes. We must not omit to mention here a remark made by M. Paul Gervais. This naturalist is disposed to think that the Whales which were formerly pursued so near to our shores (the French shores), were rather Rorquals than Right Whales. The chro- niclers of the middle ages, who are defective in their descriptions of that precision which is so desirable, may even have con- founded under the name of Whales, other large Cetaceans which * Rorquals of at least three species are still occasionally cast ashore on the French and British coasts.— Eb. 48 MAMMALIA. differ from the Right Whale more than do the Rorquals, and which also yield great quantities of oil. It is probably thus that we must explain, according to M. Gervais, the assertions borrowed from the chroniclers of that period, that they consumed Whale oil in the monasteries on the French coast; that the churches of St. Bertin and of St. Omer levied a contribution on each Whale ; that the Abbey of Caen laid a tithe on all the Whales caught at Dives ; and the Church of Coutances on all the whale-boats brought into Merri. : After this historical account, we will describe the Whale fishery— a so-called fishery, so different from all others; for an immense gain is at stake andan immense risk isrun. We will begin by describing the process the most anciently employed, and, as we may call it, Fig. 13.—Huarpooning the Whule. the classical process; we will then point out a new method which appears perfectly to answer the exigencies of the present day. The whaling ships which belong to France, to England, to the United States, &., are each of them always accompanied by five or six boats. The boats are generally four-oared, and carry besides the four rowers, a harpooner and an officer. When they have arrived in those latitudes where they hope to find Whales, a man is posted on the look-out on some high part of the ship, from which he can see to a long distance. The moment he perceives a Whale, he gives the signal agreed upon beforehand, and the boats are launched. In the bows of each of them stands the harpooner; at the stern is the officer. Both, with fixed eye ORDER OF CETACEA. 49 and outstretched neck, watch for the approach of the gigantic quarry. This is indicated by an eddy, a submarine vibration, and a roaring analogous to the suppressed noise of distant thunder. The animal has at last shown the extremity of his black muzzle above the water. We know already, from what Dr. Thiercelin has told us, by what alternations of blowings and soundings the creature makes its evolutions in the liquid medium. The whaler notices in what manner the Whale inclined its tail to guess the direction which it has taken, and he notes the presence of boéte on the surface and at the bottom of the sea, so as to ascertain whether its soundings will be long or short, and then changes his direction according to the requirements of the moment. It is the exact knowledge of these details which makes the expert whaler. So the manceuvres of the boat vary considerably, according to cir- cumstances. It is easy enough to approach to within fifteen or twenty fathoms of the Whale. But the difficulty is to arrive sufficiently near it to allow of a successful attack being made upon it; that is to say, to within two or three fathoms’ distance. Blows from the tail and the flippers are now to be feared. When the boat is sufficiently near, the harpooner prepares to cast the harpoon at the Whale. This is the place to say something about the instrument. It is composed of two parts: the iron and the handle. The iron is a metal tube, funnel-shaped at one end and ter- minated at the other in a sort of reversed V. The exterior edges of this V are sharp, whilst the interior edges are thick and straight, in such a manner that when once in the flesh, the iron, retained there by the two points, cannot be torn out. The edges can also be barbed. This dart is more than a métre in length. It is fixed into a handle, which is pierced with a hole, in which is fixed a cord of about four hundred métres long. The harpooner stands, his thigh fitting into a hollow of the boat, holding his weapon with both hands. When the officer con- siders that the favourable moment has arrived, he cries out, “Strike!” We will here let Dr. Thiercelin, an historian of, and an actor in, these exciting combats, speak for himself :—‘ The harpoon vibrates,” says he, “ traverses space, penetrates into the blubber, plunges and fixes itself into the fleshy and tendinous or sinewy parts. And here I ought to remark how few harpoons E 50 MAMMALIA. penetrate to the desired depth: out of five or six Whales struck by the harpoon, it often happens that one only is made well fast. When, from a false calculation as to the distance, awkwardness, or fear, the harpooner has thrown his weapon badly, the Whale promptly frees itself from the instrument which wD, has wounded it, by a sharp contraction of its muscles. As soon as it is free, the animal starts off, and it is then useless to attempt to follow it; it is lost sight of after fifteen or twenty minutes; in most cases its companions aceompany it, and are for the future more difficult to approach than they were formerly. If, on the contrary, it is made fast to the boat, it quivers and seems to shrink under the blow ; excited by the pain, it prepares to make its escape; hindered in doing this by the dart it carries in its flesh, it at first hesitates, so that any ordinarily skilful harpooner is able to send a second harpoon into it; at any rate in a few minutes it dives. The officer then changes his place, and proceeds to take his post of action. Up to this time he has directed the mancuvres; now he is going to act himself; to kill the animal is his right and his duty. More than two hundred fathoms of the line are already in the sea, and the animal is still diving. The force of plunging is so great, that if there were anything in the way of the rope it would make the boat capsize. The line has been known, as it was unrolling itself, to catch a man by an arm, a leg, or even by the body, and drag him down into the i sea, from which he did not rise again till the part | caught hold of had been cut through by the friction. It is difficult to form an idea of the coolness required | in these preliminary mancuvres: it is necessary to l have at the same time great resolution, extreme Fig l4— promptitude, and the utmost prudence. If the first Harpoon. opportunity is missed, all chance may disappear, and the fruit of long dabour is lost. To judge from the uneasy air of certain officers, one would say that they were afraid, so anxiously do they look all round, and watch every little thing; but by the direction of the line, they know whether the MAMMALIA. dl Whale is diving perpendicularly down, swimming along under the water, or mounting to the surface, and they mancuvre accordingly. It is now above all. that the crew must blindly obey its officer; it must be nothing but a rowing and_back- watering machine, for all of their lives depend on this. In these solemn moments fear takes possession of some sailors. As soon as the Whale is made fast, they become of a livid pale- ness ; they lose their heads; they see nothing, hear nothing, and can no longer obey a single command. It is very remarkable, that old sailors are more exposed than young ones to this excessive panic. When men are not soon cured of this unfortunate impres- sionability, they cease to make part of the crew of the whale-boat, where their presence could only be demoralising to the others. Harpooners, too, until then intrepid, have been known to become all of a sudden, and without any apparent cause, incapable of throw- ing a harpoon with force and accuracy. The simple fact of the Whale being close at hand. strikes them with terror; their arms, paralyzed by fear, suffer the-weapon. to fall flat and harmless on the Cetacean, which, warned by this simple touch, escapes as fast as possible. The true whaler knows no fear: he braves death, but is prudent. When the animal rises from. its first dive, he draws the line taut, approaches the beast cautiously, not precipitately, but rather slowly. He knows that he must avoid the tail and the flippers; he knows that the head is invulnerable, that a wound in the abdomen is never immediately mortal, and that he ought to be quick and to get a fair aim so as to strike some vital part. What difficulties, and how long it sometimes is before the first lance can be cast! And yet it is not one that is sufficient to cause the Whale’s death, but ten, twenty, and even more than that; and even then they must have been planted in the proper parts of its body, or they will not produce the required effect. If a mortal wound is not inflicted in the first quarter of an hour, the Whale recovers from its alarm, regains its senses, and takes to flight,. dragging its enemy after it: then there are the alternations of prolonged divings and rapid runnings in or towards the wind. The whale-boat, carried away with the swiftness of an arrow, rushes through the waves, and seems to leave on each side of it a wall of vapour. In vain do two or three of the boats, throwing their painters to the one which is made fast to the Whale, come and get themselves towed E2 52 MAMMALIA. and increase the weight the Whale has to drag along with it: "9 speed of the animal is not perceptibly diminished. “This phase of the combat necessitates a fresh device, more difficult and more dangerous to execute than those which preceded it. Armed with a mattock or sharp spade, the thrower waits till the Whale has raised its tail some métres out of the water, and hauling himself just under this formidable weapon, he throws his mattock on a level with the last caudal vertebra. If he divides the artery and the tendons, the blood gushes out in floods, and the pace slackens to a great extent. Owing also to this attack in the rear, the Whale often changes its route; the boat is now on the side instead of being behind, and the harpoon can again be used. It would be impossible for me to describe all the devices, all the false attacks, all the escapes, all the desperate attacks of man upon this living mass, which, with one blow of its tail-flukes, could smash to atoms all the boats belonging to a ship. Fortunately the animal does not know how formidable it really is; it is only when it tries to escape that it causes disasters. When it is possible to do so, another boat makes itself fast to the Whale, so as to make its chance of escape still less, and thus to come to the final result sooner. At each blow the animal makes hoarse and metallic roarings, which can be heard for a distance of miles; the blow, or what it spouts forth, is white, thick, and rises to a great height, until, after a lucky hit has been made, two columns of blood escape from the spiracles or blow-holes, rise into the air, and in their fall redden the sea for a great way round ; from this moment the Whale is considered as good as dead. And in fact, after some additional fresh wounds, the spouts do not rise to such a height, the blood is thicker, the divings are less prolonged, the strength of the creature is becoming exhausted, and the fishermen cease to contend with it. Sometimes death comes immediately after the appearance of blood in the spout, but life is generally prolonged for one or two hours more: this circumstance is regarded as favourable, inasmuch as the great loss of blood leaves the body specifically lighter, and therefore better able to float. However, the animal may still be lost ; the distance, the night, or the state of the sca does not allow of the vessel following it. On the approach of its death the poor Whale collects all its remaining strength, and in a disorderly flight, without an aim, without any consciousness ORDER OF CETACEA. 53 of danger, without hope of saving its life, it swims along, over- turning everything which it meets an onits way. Itsees nothing, throws itself at random on the boats, on a rock, or on the shore. “Very soon a general shiver runs through its whole body; its convulsions make the sea froth and boil. At last it raises its head for the last time; for the last time it looks for the light, and dies. Having now become an inert body, it turns over and floats with its back downward, the belly on the surface of the water, the head hanging a little down under water, on account of the different weight of the different parts. Its death sometimes takes place during a dive; the carcass then comes to the surface, and floats without our being able to observe the phenomena which accompany its death-strug ne oe Dr. Pivevedlin, an eye-witness, has just related to us the terrible vicissitudes in this blocdy struggle between Man and the Whale. You have, no doubt, reader, contemplated this curious picture with interest; and have felt much admiration for the courage of the man, and a feeling of pity for the terrors and the pain suffered by his gigantic victim. Excited by the struggle, the crew of the whaling ship is, however, very jar from being ac- cessible to such tender-hearted feelings as these: it abandons itself to transports of joy caused by its victory. But this triumphant joy gives place sometimes to profound con- sternation. The Whale is dead, it floats on the water, and belongs to the crew ; when lo! all of a sudden it begins sinking gently, head- foremost, and disappears. What trouble has been taken, what dangers run, all to no purpose. The Whale has gone to the bottom ! Tn ust as it is sinking, numerous air-bubbles come to the surface of the water, burst, ‘and produce a sort of ebullition, which lasts about a minute. This accident may happen under several different circumstances. It has been observed, however, that it was more frequent—lst, when the Whale is relatively thin; 2nd, when it is dead without having spouted blood, or, as it is called, being suffocated (étouffée) ; 3rd, hee it has had its abdomen cut up wi ith wounds from the harpoon. If, through any circumstance, in consequence of a wound, for example, the water penetrates into its bronchial tubes, it drives the air out of them, renders the whole body heavier, and the animal sinks to the bottom quicker and quicker * Journal d'un Baleinier, tome i. ot MAMMALIA. in proportion as the air is driven out of the bronchial tubes and is replaced by water. We have just described the process, which we call classical, em- ployed in capturing the Whale. This process is insufficient now, because the Whales have become timid, and knowing their danger, flee before their pursuers, at the moment when the latter flatter themselves that they are about to catch them. A French gun-maker, M. Devisme, invented for whaling an explosive projectile. The baile foudroyante or d percussion of M. Devisme has two little wines, which, opening at the:moment of the explosion in the body of the animal, form:a sort of harpoon. The baile foudroyante pro- posed by M. Devisme-for hunting dangerous animals, which should be killed at the first shot, such as Lions, Tigers, or Elephants, and which he considers equally suited for attacking great spouting Whales, is nothing but a kind of howitzer shell, reduced to dimensions small enough to allow of its being fired from an ordinary rifled carbine. This ball contains a certain quantity of powder, which ean be ignited by the percussion of a fulminating capsule contained in its interior. This balle foudroyante (Fig. 15) is cylindrical, and eight centi- métres in length; it is formed of a copper tube, covered at its base with a coating of lead for:about the length of two centi- métres. This plate of lead forces itself, at the moment the gun is fired, into the grooves of the barrel of the carbine, the calibre of which is the same as that of the Vincennes carbine. The upper part of this-ball is a copper cone, screwing on to the tube. This cone is armed with a ‘piston, at the lower extremity of which is placed an ordinary cap, which rests upon a steel cross-piece. When the projectile has hit the object shot at, this steel cross-piece crushes the fulminating capsule, and the six grains of powder contained in the ball ignite and send the whole projectile flying about in death-bearing splinters. Of all the means tried until now to strike and kill the Whale from a distance, the only one which has, as yet at least, been actually employed is an American projectile, which has received the name of bomb-lance. This engine (Fig. 16) is composed of a cast-iron tube, of from thirty to forty centimétres in length by two to three in diameter. This tube is filled with about a hundred grains of gunpowder. It terminates above in a triangular pyramid, with ORDER OF CETACEA. 55 hollow surfaces, having the angle and points very acute; the bottom of this tube is joined, by means of a screw, to a narrower screw containing a match. This projectile can be fired with the charge of a heavy gun, which, when well shouldered, carries as far as fifteen, twenty, and even thirty fathoms. When the gun , has been fired, the bomb which forms the projectile penetrates into the fleshy parts of the animal with the match, which was lighted by the explosion that took place when the gun went off.