The Greenland whale, and also the species called the _great rorqual_, are doubtless included in the name which our whalemen give to the bowhead.
There are several other varieties of the whale tribe, and different names are attached to them, such as the "scragg," the "humpback," &c.; but the foregoing are all the kinds whether of interest or profit to whalemen.
Whale Blubber.--Enemies of the Whale.--Affection of the Whale for its Young.--Instances.
WHALE BLUBBER. The following furnishes a succinct statement of whale blubber: "That structure in which the oil is, denominated blubber, is the true skin of the animal, modified, certainly, for the purpose of holding this fluid oil, but still being the true skin. Upon close examination, it is found to consist of an interlacement of fibres, crossing each other in every direction, as in common skin, but more open in texture, to leave room for the oil. Taking as an example that of an individual covered with an external layer of fat, we find we can trace the true skin without any difficulty, leaving a thick layer of cellular membrane loaded with fat, of the same nature as that in the other parts of the body; on the contrary, in the whale, it is altogether impossible to raise any layer of skin distinct from the rest of the blubber, however thick it may be; and, in _flensing_ a whale the operator removes this blubber or skin from the muscular parts beneath, merely dividing with his spade the connecting cellular membrane.
"Such a structure as this, being firm and elastic in the highest degree, operates like so much india rubber, possessing a density and power of resistance which increases with the pressure. But this thick coating of fat subserves other important uses. An inhabitant of seas where the cold is most intense, yet warm blooded, and dependent for existence on keeping up the animal heat, the whale is furnished in this thick wrapper with a substance which resists the abstraction of heat from the body as fast as it is generated, and thus is kept comfortably warm in the fiercest polar winters. Again, the oil contained in the cells of the skin, being superficially lighter than water, adds to the buoyancy of the animal, and thus saves much muscular exertion in swimming horizontally and in rising to the surface; the bones, being of a porous or spongy texture, have a similar influence."