THE WHALE. 



Ill 



Four tons of blubber, by measure, generally af- 

 fords three tons of oil,* but the blubber of a sucker 

 contains a very small portion. Whales have been 

 caught that afforded nearly thirty tons of pure oil, 

 and whales yielding twenty tons of oil, are by no 

 means numerous. The quantity of oil, yielded by 

 a whale, generally bears a certain proportion to 

 the length of its longest blade of whalebone. 



The average quantity is expressed in the follow- 

 ing table, f 



Though this statement, on the average, be exceed- 

 ingly near the truth, yet exceptions sometimes oc- 

 cur. A whale of 2§ feet bone, for instance, has 

 been known to produce near ten tons of oil, and 

 another of twelve feet bone only nine tons. Such 

 instances, however, are very uncommon. 



* The ton or tun of oil, is 252 gallons, wine measure! it 

 weighs, at temperature 60°, 19331b. 12oz. 14dr. avoirdupois. 



t This table is somewhat different from that given in 

 Wernerian Memoirs, (vol. I. p. 582,) an increased number 

 of observations having enabled me to improve it. 



