. An introduction to the study of mammals living and extinct. Mammals. 249 to the apex. Upper edge of the mesethmoid forming a roughened irregular projection between the narial apertures, inclining to the left side. Mandible exceedingly long and narrow, the symphysis being more than half the length of the ramus. Vertebras: C 7, D 11, L 8, C 24 ; total 50. Atlas free; all the other cervical vertebrae united by their bodies and spines into a single mass. Eleventh pair of ribs rudimentary. Head about one-third the length of the body; very massive, high and truncated, and rather comp
. An introduction to the study of mammals living and extinct. Mammals. 249 to the apex. Upper edge of the mesethmoid forming a roughened irregular projection between the narial apertures, inclining to the left side. Mandible exceedingly long and narrow, the symphysis being more than half the length of the ramus. Vertebras: C 7, D 11, L 8, C 24 ; total 50. Atlas free; all the other cervical vertebrae united by their bodies and spines into a single mass. Eleventh pair of ribs rudimentary. Head about one-third the length of the body; very massive, high and truncated, and rather compressed in front; owing its huge size and remarkable form mainly to the accumulation of an oily substance secreted by the lining membranes of great cells smTounding the narial passage and filling the large hollow on the upper surface of the cranium and overlying the rostrum. The single blowhole is longitudinal, slightly sigmoid, and placed at the upper and anterior extremity of the head to the left side of the middle line. The opening of the mouth is on the under side of the head, considerably behind the end of the snout. Pectoral fin short, broad, and obliquely truncated. Dorsal fin a mere low protuberance. The only representative of this genus is the Cachalot or Sperm. :._The Sperm Whale (Fhyseter macrocephalus). Whale (P. macrocephalus, Fig. 83), one of the most colossal of animals, quite equalling, if not exceeding, the Greenland Whale in bulk. The length of the fuU-gTOwn male is from 55 to 60 feet, but the female is stated not to reach more than half that size. The general colour of the surface is black above and gray below, the colours gradually shading into each other. The Sperm Whale is one of the most widely distributed of animals, being met with usually in herds or "schools" in almost all tropical and subtropical seas, but not occurring, except accident- ally, in the Polar regions. Not unfrequently specimens appear on the coasts of the British Isles, but only
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Keywords: ., bookauthorly, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectmammals
