158 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE,

plaintive sry struck upon their ears—and repeated again it
seemed to be—during the momentary lulls of the storm. The
farmer continued to listen, but hearing nothing more, he
descended to the front door and opened it; a dark object
lay before him, on the very threshold, and stooping down
to touch it, what was his astonishment to behold the poor
blind, devoted little seal, apparently dead. The farmer was
greatly touched ; he took up the little body gently and carried
it into the kitchen, and used every effort to restore it to
life but in vain.
ORDER Vv. This order is divided into two sub-orders, the
Whales and one characterised by the possession of teeth, and
Dolphins. the other being toothless.
The Right The Right Whale when fully grown, attains to
Whale. from fifty to sixty-five feet in length, and to from
thirty to forty feet in circumference. It is thickest behind the
fins. When the mouth is open, it presents a cavity as large as a
room, and capable of containing a boat full of men. Its
tongue is said to be as large as a stout feather-bed. The
tail is a powerful instrument of motion and defence: it is
only five or six feet long, but its motions are rapid, and its
strength immense. The eyes are situated in the sides of the
head; they are very small, being little larger than those of
an ox. The whale has no external ear, but there is a small
orifice under the skin for the admission of sound. On the
most elevated part of the head are two blow holes six or
eight inches in length. The mouth, instead of teeth, has
two rows of whalebone, each of which contains more than
three hundred lamine, the longest of which are about ten
or eleven feet. A large whale sometimes contains a ton and
a half of whalebone. The colour of the old whale is gray
and white, that of the young ones a sort of bluish black.
Immediately beneath the skin lies the blubber, or fat; its
thickness round the body is eight or ten or twenty inches,
varying in different parts: the lips are composed almost