THE WHALE FISHERY. 5 



Sperm oil is used chiefly as a lubricator, for which purpose it is unsurpassed. Whale oil is 

 employed in niaiiy industries, but chiefly by tanners iu the preparation of leathers. Blackflsh oil 

 is specially good in preparing morocco. Whale oil, mixed with black lead and paraffine oil, is 

 used for lubricating car axles and wheels. 



Spermaceti is used in medicine, in laundries, and for other minor purposes, but is used 

 chiefly for the manufacture of caudles ; a patent candle of superior quality is made from paraffine 

 and spermaceti mixed. 



Whalebone requires comparatively little preparation to fit it for use by whip-makers, dress- 

 makers, and numerous other tradesmen. It is received from the vessels in bundles of slabs vary- 

 ing from a foot to 15 feet iu length. These slabs are scraped, steamed, cut, and split into suitable 

 sizes for use. 



The whalebone workers of the United States recognize five varieties of bone ; (1) Arctic, from 

 the Bowhead or Polar whale; this is the largest bone, and is used principally in the manufacture 

 of whips and dress bone ; (2) Northwest, which is the heaviest bone, and is used for whips and 

 canes; (3) South Sea, which is lint' and short, used for whips and dress bone; (4) Humpback, 

 short and black, specially suitable for corsets ; (5) Finback, short and coarse, used for corsets. 

 Some slabs of bone have longitudinal streaks of white or light yellow. The white portion is of 

 greater value than the black, and is thought by the workers to be caused by disease. 



Ambergris, when pure, is worth more than its weight in gold. It is used in the preparation 

 of fine perfumery, having the property of thoroughly and permanently uniting the ingredients. 

 It is found in the intestines of the sperm whale, and is a very uncertain article. Many whalers 

 have cruised the seas for years and never found an ounce, while fortunate ones hare secured a 

 hundred pounds or more of the precious substance iu a single year. It is supposed to be a 

 product of a disease in the animal similar to indigestion. This theory of its origin is supported 

 by the fact that particles of cuttle-fish, the chief food of the sperm whale, are often found in the 

 ambergris, and the location of the substance in the intestines also supports this theory. In 1858 

 a New Bedford vessel secured GOO pounds of ambergris, worth $10,500; in 1878 the Adeline Gibbs, 

 of New Bedford, brought home 136 pounds that sold for $23,000. The total quantity received 

 from the American whaling fleet from 1836 to 1880 was 1,667| pounds. 



A full discussion of ambergris and the manner of obtaining it, is given in the section of this 

 report treating of the Preparation of Fishery Products. 



DECLINE OF THE FISHERY. Starbuck, in 1877, thus discussed the causes of the decline of the 

 whale-fishery : 



"On the 1st of January, 1877, the entire fleet was reduced to 112 ships and barks, and 51 brigs 

 and schooners, having a total capacity of 37,828 tons.* 



" It will be well to see to what causes this decline is attributable. Many circumstances have 

 operated to bring this about. The alternate stimulus and rebuff which the fishery received as a 

 short supply and good prices led to additions to the fleet and an overstock and decline in values, 

 were natural, and in themselves probably formed no positive impediment. The increase in popu- 

 lation would have caused an increase in comsumption beyond the power of the fishery to supply, 

 for even at the necessarily high prices people would have had light. But other things occurred. 

 The expense of procuring oil was yearly increasing, when the oil-wells of Pennsylvania were opened, 

 and a source of illumination opened at once plentiful, cheap, and good. Its dangerous qualities 

 at first greatly checked its general use, but these removed, it entered into active, relentless com- 

 petition with whale oil, and it proved the more powerful of the antagonistic forces. 



* The lowest ebb was reached on the 1st of January, 1875, when the fleet consisted of 119 ships and barks, and 44 

 brigs and schooners, with a capacity of 37,733 tons. 



