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the Rorqualus rostratus, of DeKay. It is of a black color, underneath of a reddish white; inhabiting the North Sea, and has been found at Volognes, in France, in the Thames, at Deptford, Eng., and in the bay of New York. The other species, eight in number, are included in a fourth genus, Physalus. The names of the species, as given in the catalogue above referred to, are P. tiquorum, the Razor Back, or Great Northern Rorqual; P. Boops, of which a specimen, thirty-eight feet in length, is in the British Museum. This is probably one of the smaller Rorquals, and was taken in 1846. P. Sibbaldi, another Rorqual, of which a specimen is found in the Museum at Hull, Eng., forty feet long; P. fasciatus, the Peruvian Finner, found on the coasts of Peru; P. Iwasi, the Japan Finner. It is very rare. A specimen, taken nearly a century ago, was twenty-five feet long ;-P. antarcticus, so named by Dr. I. E. Gray, from the baleen of a New Zealand species; P. Brasiliensis, the Bahia Finner, named from baleen, brought from Bahia. P. australis, the Southern Finner, found in the seas of the Falkland Islands.

The genus Balaenoptera, is divided into two sections,—one distinguished by the smoothness of the skin, of the throat and under parts, of which there is one species, Balaenoptera physalus, called the Finfish. The other section is characterised by the deep longitudinal regular folds into which the skin of the throat and under parts is thrown, and which are supposed to be capable of great dilatation. Of this there are several species. The name Rorqual, which they bear, is of Norwegian origin, meaning "whale with folds." The Rorquals have sometimes been arranged into greater and lesser Rorquals,(majores et minores.) Twenty-five feet is said to be the limit, as to length, of the smaller division. Their baleen is white and short; the folds are of a rosy tint. They frequent the rocky bays of Greenland, (especially during summer,) and the coasts of Iceland and Norway, rarely descending into lower latitudes. They are very active in their habits, so that, although valued in northern climates for the extreme delicacy of their flesh, yet the natives do not attempt to harpoon them, but wound them with their darts and spears, and after a fortunate hunt, hope to discover them dead and stranded. The smaller Rorquals yield an oil peculiarly delicate, and esteemed by the Icelanders as an article of their materia medica. The Rorqual of the Southern Seas, B. Australis, resembles the Northern Rorqual. Its great power and velocity make it difficult of capture, and its products by no means repay the risk and labor of taking it. It is sometimes called the Black Whale, and has been found in considerable numbers on the shores of California.

These Southern Whales are fond of placing themselves in a perpendicular position, for the purpose of surveying more easily the expanse of waters; at a distance, resembling large black rocks in the midst of the ocean. Fossil Rorquals have been found in Britain and other parts of Europe.

IV. HERBIVOROUS CETACEA, or AQUATIC PACHYDERMS.

This family of the Cetacea have teeth with flattened surfaces, and adapted to the herbivorous nature of their food; the skin is thick, and more or less horny; the stomach divided into four cavities. They have stiff moustaches on their lips, and pectoral mammae,―peculiarities which, when their bodies are partly raised out of the water, give them a somewhat human look, and probably are connected with the fanciful stories which have been often told about "Mermaids." They are frequently called "Sea Cows, Sea Calves," etc. The favorite haunts of these animals, are the mouths of rivers or straits, where the water is only three or four fathoms deep. Here, where the sea-weeds grow luxuriantly, they feed in troops, rising frequently to the surface, in order to take breath. This group includes three genera, and about twice as many species.

Manatus or Lamantine. The MANATEE, or SEA Cow. (Plate VIII. fig. 2.)

The animals of this genus, are confined to three or four species, having oblong bodies, which are from ten to fifteen, and sometimes twenty feet long; long, rounded tails, and eight grinders in each jaw. They are gregarious, and strongly attached to each other, as well as their young, which the female defends, regardless of her own danger. Their flesh resembles fatted pork, and when salted, makes excellent sea-store. They are much sought after, being captured with a harpoon attached to a stout cord. The skin is of a blackish color, very tough and hard, full of inequalities, and sprinkled with a few bristly hairs about an inch in length. The Manatus Americanus is found at the mouth of the Amazon, Oronoco, and other rivers of South America, and one species is still hunted among the lagoons and keys of Florida. Its exhibits rudimentary nails upon its flippers, and by their aid, sometimes drags its unwieldy body on shore to bask in the sun, or seek for herbage growing on and near the banks.

Halicore Dugong.

This genus is similar to the preceding one; has one species, (Dugong,) and is found in the waters of the East Indies, and

EXPLANATION OF PLATE VIII.

Fig. 1st. Common Seal, or Sea-Dog, Phoca vitulina. It has five or six rows of white whiskers, short fore feet, with webbed toes, serving as oars for swimming, but upon land only available for creeping or shuffling along as it comes out to bask in the sun. The hind feet have short flattened claws, of which the three middle ones are smallest, giving the feet a forked appearance.

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Fig. 2d. Manatee, Sea Cow, Siren, or Mermaid of the ancients, Manatus Americanus. The nostrils are in the skin, near the end of the muzzle. It has flippers or pectoral fins, or fin-like forearms, having their five fingers enveloped in a membrane or skin, with nails, or rudiments of nails, which terminate four of the fingers.

Fig. 3d. Sperm-Whale, Physeter, or Cachalot macrocephalus. The head forms one-third of its bulk; the nostril, spiracle, or spout-hole, is a slit a foot long and shaped like the letter f. The case above the brain contains the sperm oil. oil. In a large whale the cavity will contain a tun, or more than ten barrels. The portion just above the mouth, called the Junk, is formed of elastic, strong fibres, permeated with fine sperm oil and spermaceti. The eyes are small, and the two are said to be unequal in size. The ear-openings are behind the eyes, and only large enough to admit a small quill. On the neck is the Bunch, (Bunch of the neck,) and on the back the Hump. Although this animal is of enormous size, the Small, near the Flukes or Tail is not thicker than a man's body. Fig. 4th. The True Dolphin of the ancients, Delphinus delphis, has a spiracle or blow-hole on the summit of the head, above the eyes, which are small and low down, near the angle of the mouth. The beak is of the same length as the head, with from forty to forty-eight teeth on each side, above and below, interlocking with each other. The swimming paws are placed low and half way between the end of the beak and the dorsal eminence.