234 WHALE-FISHERY. 



parating the minute animals, on which the whale 

 feeds, from the sea water in which they exist. 



It is a substance of a horny appearance and con- 

 sistence, extremely flexible and elastic, generally 

 of a bluish black colour, but not unfrequently strip- 

 ed longitudinally with white, and exhibiting a 

 beautiful play of colour on the surface. Internally 

 it is of a fibrous texture, resembling hair; and the 

 external surface consists of a smooth enamel, capa- 

 ble of receiving a good polish. 



This substance, when taken from the whale, con- 

 sists of laminae, connected by what is called the gum, 

 in a parallel series, and ranged along each side of 

 the mouth of the animal. The laminae are about 

 300 in number, in each side of the head. The 

 length of the longest blade, which occurs near the 

 middle of the series, is the criterion fixed on by the 

 fishers, for designating the size of the fish. Its 

 greatest length is about 15 feet; but an instance very 

 rarely occurs of any being met with above 12 § or 

 13 feet. Its greatest breadth, which is at the root 

 end, is 10 or 12 inches, and its greatest thickness 

 four-tenths or five-tenths of an inch. 



The two sides or series of the whalebone, are 

 connected at the upper part of the head, or crown 

 bone of the fish, within a few inches of each other, 

 from whence they hang downward, diverging so far 

 as to enclose the tongue between their extremities; 

 the position of the blades, with regard to each other, 

 resembles a frame of saws in a saw mill; and taken 



