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_^ . i-'i 



L I B R A R 



The Scottish Naturalist 



No. sS.} 1915 [February 



EDITORIAL. 



For scientific purposes greater advantage has been taken of 

 the whahng station at Belmullet, in Ireland, than of the 

 similar Scottish stations. The Report furnished to the 

 British Association by Mr E. Hamilton contains much 

 information regarding the relative sizes of the various whales, 

 and such other facts as can be gleaned from carcases, which 

 unfortunately appear always to be in a more or less advanced 

 state of decomposition. It is interesting to find that in an 

 Irish whale there was found a complete example of the 

 Cuttlefish, ArchiteiitJiis harvejn, whose length from tip of 

 the short arms to tip of tail measured over 13^ feet, and 

 whose long tentacles themselves were 21 feet in length. 

 We think it is erroneous to state (as on p. 12) that the sperm 

 oil is contained in "cavities" within the head of the Sperm 

 Whale. All the evidence points to the fact that the oil is 

 stored in a mass of spongy tissue which fills the so-called 

 cavities, and that the walls of the cells in this tissue break 

 down during decomposition, and thus create in a decomposed 

 whale more or less continuous reservoirs which do not 

 represent the natural relationship of the spermaceti to the 

 fleshy tissues of the head. 



During the past few years the Local Government Board 

 has issued several reports dealing with the important 

 .^.8 P 



