The Glow Spreads West 63 



distance between the two fins at the end of the tail of which was 1 6 

 cubits and its teeth 120 in number; the largest nine and smallest six 

 inches in length." This appears to have been a sperm whale. 



Even more delightful anecdotes follow which give us a very in- 

 teresting sidelight on a matter that we observed as having been cur- 

 rent many centuries before. Pliny states that "M. Scaurus, in his 

 aedileship, exhibited at Rome, among other wonderful things, the 

 bones of the monster to which Andromeda was said to have been 

 exposed and which he had brought from Joppa, a city of Judaea. 

 These bones exceeded 40 feet in length, and the ribs were higher 

 than those of the Indian Elephant, while the backbone was a foot 

 and a half in thickness." So startled was the worthy reporter by the 

 size of these remains that he apparently collapsed into straightfor- 

 ward and honest description without exaggeration. He must, in fact, 

 actually have had somebody measure the exhibits. The interesting 

 point to us is, however, that these remains came from Joppa, the 

 town from which Jonah set out and one of the centers of Phoenician 

 whaling since the second millennium. It is, moreover, reported by 

 Pliny as well as by others that there were still at that time many signs 

 of this industry in the ports of Palestine, while the chains which 

 were said to have been used to bind Andromeda could be seen affixed 

 to the rocks at the harbor mouth of Joppa. These latter were prob- 

 ably the attachments for a boom used by the Phoenicians in defense 

 of that port. Pliny also has some chatty remarks to make on the sub- 

 ject of an animal he calls the Orca, which, from certain passages 

 that we shall see immediately, we should have no doubt in referring 

 to the animal bearing that name today, namely, the killer whale. His 

 best tale is about one that appeared on the coast of Italy and which, 

 it seems, he himself saw killed. His story is: 



An Orca has even been seen in the port of Ostia, where it was 

 attacked by the Emperor Claudius. It was while he was con- 

 structing the harbour that this orca came, attracted by some 

 hides which, having been brought from Gaul, had happened to 

 fall overboard there. By feeding on these for several days it had 

 quite glutted itself, having made for itself a channel in the 

 shoally water. Here, however, the sand was thrown up by the 

 action of the wind to such an extent that the creature found it 

 quite impossible to turn round; and while in the act of pursuing 



