Natural History Of The Cetaceans And Other Marine Mammals Of The Western Coast Of North America With An Account Of The American Whale Fishery

Author : Charles M. Scammon
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9780266416401
Total Pages : 448 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (164 download)

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Download or read book The Marine Mammals of the North-Western Coast of North America written by Charles M. Scammon and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2017-10-17 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Marine Mammals of the North-Western Coast of North America: Described and Illustrated, Together With an Account of the American Whale-Fishery Being on the coast Of California in 1852, when the gold-fever raged, the force of circumstances compelled me to take command of a brig, bound on a seal ing, sea-elephant, and whaling voyage, or abandon sea-life, at least temporarily. The Objects Of our pursuit were found in great numbers, and the Opportunities for studying their habits were so good, that I became greatly interested in col leeting facts bearing upon the natural history of these animals. Reference to the few books devoted to the subject soon convinced me that I was at work in a department in which but little definite knowledge existed. This was true even of the whales, the best known Of this class; and I was soon led to believe that, by diligent Observation, I should be able to add materially to the scanty stock of infor mation existing in regard to the marine mammals of the Pacific Coast. I was the more encouraged to pursue these investigations, because, among the great number Of intelligent men in command Of Whaling-ships, there was no one who had contrib uted anything Of importance to the natural history of the Cetaceans; while it was Obvious that the opportunities Offered for the study Of their habits, to those prae tically engaged in the business Of whaling, were greater than could possibly be enjoyed by persons not thus employed. The chief Object in this work is to give as correct figures Of the different Species of marine mammals, found on the Pacific Coast of North America, as could be Obtained from a careful study of them from life, and numerous measurements after death, made whenever practicable. It is also my aim to give as full an account Of the habits Of these animals as practicable, together with such facts in reference to their geographical distribution as have come to my knowledge. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.