The Sea and Its Living Wonders: A Popular Account of the Marvels of the Deep and of the Progress of Martime Discovery from the Earliest Ages to the Present TimeHartwig, G. (Georg)
History
The Sea and Its Living Wonders: A Popular Account of the Marvels of the Deep and of the Progress of Martime Discovery from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time
Hartwig, G. (Georg)
Animal behavior; Discoveries in geography; Discoveries in geography -- History; Marine animals; Marine plants; Ocean
"In all these submarine mines," says Mr. Henwood, "I have heard the
dashing of the billows and the grating of the shingle when in calm
weather. I was once, however, underground in Wheal Cock during a storm.
At the extremity of the level seaward some eighty or one hundred
fathoms from the shore, little could be heard of its effects, except
at intervals, when the reflux of some unusually large wave projected a
pebble outward, bounding and rolling over the rocky bottom. But when
standing beneath the base of the cliff, and in that part of the mine
where but nine feet of rock stood between us and the ocean, the heavy
roll of the large boulders, the ceaseless grinding of the pebbles, the
fierce thundering of the billows, with the crackling and boiling as they
rebounded, placed a tempest in its most appalling form too vividly before
me ever to be forgotten. More than once doubting the protection of our
rocky shield, we retreated in affright, and it was only after repeated
trials that we had confidence to pursue our investigations." Yet the
miners, accustomed from their early youth to the fierce and threatening
roaring of the stormy sea, pursue their work from year to year, never
doubting that the thin roof which separates them from a watery grave will
continue to protect them, as it has shielded their fathers before them.
PART II.
THE INHABITANTS OF THE SEA.
CHAP. VIII.
THE CETACEANS.
General Remarks on the Organisation of the Cetaceans.--The Large
Greenland Whale.--His Food and Enemies.--The Fin-Back or Rorqual.--The
Antarctic Whale.--The Sperm-Whale.--The Unicorn Fish.--The
Dolphin.--Truth and Fable.--The Porpoise.--The Grampus.--History of
the Whale Fishery.
Of all the living creatures that people the immensity of ocean, the
cetaceans, or the whale family, are the most perfect. Their anatomical
construction renders them in many respects similar to man, and their
heart is susceptible of a warmth of feeling unknown to the cold-blooded
fishes; for the mother shows signs of attachment to her young, and
forgets her own safety when some danger menaces her offspring. Like
man, the cetaceans breathe through lungs, and possess a double heart,
receiving and propelling streams of _warm_ red blood. The anatomical
structure of their pectoral fins bears great resemblance to that of the
human arm, as the bony structure of those organs equally consists of a
shoulder-blade, an upper arm, a radius and ulna, and five fingers.
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