Download The Natural History of the Sperm Whale to Which Is Added, a Sketch of a South-Sea Whaling Voyage Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle
This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1839. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER VIII. ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE SPERM WHALE. It will be seen, in the following compilation of the anatomy and physiology of the sperm whale, which I have gleaned from the various naturalists who have from time to time written upon these interesting subjects, that I have largely availed myself of the inimitable paper, originally presented to the Royal Society by the great John Hunter, which treats of the structure and economy of whales. I have thought proper to reprint nearly the whole of this paper, because of the exceedingly interesting nature of its contents, --not because it does not treat solely of the anatomy of the sperm whale, but because it contains passages so highly original and profound, not only of whales in general, and of the sperm whale in particular, that to have left this article without it, a mere barren chapter would have presented itself, wholly without interest. For although the structural and functional developements of several kinds of whales are considered in that learned paper, the peculiarities of which are exposed with amazing judgment by our great naturalist, still the reader will observe that there is a strong analogy among them in the internal arrangement of their organs; as in the stomach, liver, parts of generation in both sexes, and also in the kidney, lungs, and brain; and where they differ in organic development, the gifted author beautifully describes the alteration and its object. In fact, as far as I have examined, and I believe that I have perused every writer of note on these subjects, there is not a paper, or any work on "record, equal in any degree to that which was produced by Hunter; for although much, very much, remains to be known of the structure and economy of the sperm and other whales, yet Hunter threw...