82 A BOOK OF WHALES 



Later still whalebone was quite properly described 

 by T. Johnson (in 1634) as "the finnes that stand 

 forth of their mouths, which are commonly called 

 whalebones, being dried and polished, serve to make 

 buskes for women." Shakespeare, however, seems 

 to have confused the true meaning of the term. He 

 writes of "teeth as white as whalebone." But it is 

 believed that by whalebone in this case is meant the 

 tusks of the walrus, an animal which was often and 

 at many times confounded with whales ; indeed, it is 

 not always easy to decide whether a given illustration 

 refers to this animal or to some large toothed whale, 

 such as Orca. There is, however, curiously enough, 

 some justification for accepting Shakespeare's epithet 

 of white in a perfectly literal fashion, for in many 

 whales the whalebone is white, or whitish in parts or 

 altogether. 



The more celebrated Dr. Johnson, in the Dictionary 

 (edition of 1818), defines whalebone as "the fin of 

 a whale cut and used in making stays," thus reverting 

 to earlier errors. 



It is, however, just possible that the stiff, tendinous 

 tissue of the actual tail was made use of as a material 

 for stiffening articles of wear. It is quite conceivable 

 that when dried it might form a cheaper substitute 

 for real whalebone ; the number of times that the 

 expression " fin " is employed, and the evident know- 

 ledge possessed by at any rate some persons who 

 correctly located the true whalebone, may perhaps 

 point this way. 



Whalebone has it need hardly perhaps be re- 

 marked nothing to do with true teeth ; but it is 



