in geography, a market-town of Marionethshire, about 16 miles south from Denbigh, in 3° 40' W. long. and 52° 55' N. lat.

BALÆNA, or whale, in zoology, a genus of the mammalia class, belonging to the order of cete. The characters of this genus are these: The balæna, in place of teeth, has a horny plate in the upper jaw, and a double fistula or pipe for throwing out water. The species are four; viz. 1. The mylticetus, which has many turnings and windings in its nostrils, and has no fin on the back. This is the largest of all animals; it is often often 100 feet long: the head is very large in proportion to the body; and the lower jaw is much wider than the upper one: the ears are situated below the eyes. In the belly, it has two dogs a little before the vulva; there are two large fins on the breast; and the tail is forked. The mysticetus contains such a large quantity of fat, that a ship is often loaded with the blubber obtained from a single fish. It is a native of the Greenland Ocean. It feeds chiefly upon the medusa, a small sea-insect. See Medusa. The substance called whale-bone is got from the upper lip, and towards the throat of this and all the other species of whales. See Plate LI. fig. 1. For the manner of taking whales, see Whale-fishery. 2. The physalus, has a double pipe in the middle of the head, and a thick fat fin on the lower part of the back, besides the two fins on the breast; it has no teeth; and the belly is smooth. The physalus inhabits the European and American oceans: it feeds upon herrings and other small fish. 3. The boops has a double pipe in its snout, three fins like the former, and a hard horny ridge on its back. The belly is full of longitudinal folds or ruge. It frequents the northern ocean. 4. The mufculus has a double pipe in its front, and three fins; the under jaw is much wider than the upper one. It frequents the Scotch coasts, and feeds upon herrings—Linnaeus makes the physeter and delphinus, which are ranked among the whales by some writers, two distinct genera. See Physeter and Delphinus.