the pieces in the whale's mouth are split and frayed into
stiff bristles, and the inner edges are frayed in the same way, while
the outer edges are made smooth, so that they do not hurt the inside of
the animal's lips. The roof of the whale's mouth is covered with smaller
pieces of whalebone hanging down like bristled quills. Many of these are
only a few inches long, but they make the whole of the upper part of the
whale's mouth rough and bristly.

The creature's tongue is an enormous one, often measuring six yards long
and three yards wide. Its throat, however, is so small that sailors
often say a herring would choke it. What can be the use of such a large
mouth and tongue, and such large bars of whalebone to a creature which
has so small a throat?

On the surface of the Arctic Sea, where the whale lives, there are
swarms of living creatures. Some of these are jelly-fish, like those
which are often left upon the sea-shore when the tide goes out. But one
of the commonest of these lowly animals is a little soft-bodied
creature about an inch and a half long, which moves along through the
water with the help of two organs like wings or paddles. It is called
the _Clio borealis_, and it is very rarely seen near the shore. It is
upon these creatures that the whale feeds. Opening its mouth wide, it
rushes through the sea, and takes in a crowd of these soft-bodied
animals, along with the water in which they are swimming. Closing its
mouth, it drives out the water through its plates of whalebone, and the
little creatures are caught in the bristles as in a net. Its great
tongue is lifted up, and crushes them all into soft pulp, which is
easily swallowed, even down the whale's small throat.

Thus every part of the whale's mouth is altered to suit its strange mode
of feeding. The hard teeth, which would be of no use for biting small
pulpy animals, are done away with, and a new growth of whalebone
appears, which is of the utmost service in catching the whale its food.

Whalebone has been used for many purposes. It is split up into little
pieces, and used for light frameworks, which are required to be stiff,
but, at the same time, elastic. It used to be used for the ribs of
umbrellas and for ladies' hoops. It was also split very small and used
for the bristles of brushes. But it is now becoming scarce, and other
substances are generally used in its place.

W. A. ATKINSON.

SAVED BY THE ENEMY.

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