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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



on 1854 is probably due to the opening up of the bowhead whaling of 

 the Okhotsk Sea, possibly by Captain Freeman Smith, of the ship 

 Huntsville of the Cold Spring Harbor fleet, and of true arctic whaling 

 by Roy's voyage through Behring strait in the bark Superior (275 

 tons), of Sag Harbor, L. I., in 1848. 



In diagrams 2-4 the products of this fleet are represented for the 

 various years. Here barrels of whale oil and of sperm oil and pounds of 



Diagram 1. Total Tonnage of American Whaling Fleet, 1805-1905. 



the vertical scale denotes 10,000 tons. 



One unit on 



bone are marked off on the vertical scale for each year. In general form 

 the curves for all three products resemble that for tonnage. There are, 

 however, certain distinct and conspicuous differences. 



First among these, one notes the great variations from year to year 

 in the quantity of products brought in — fluctuations which show the 

 great uncertainty which surrounded the industry. This is most con- 

 spicuous for whale oil : it is almost equally marked in the case of whale 



