mOCESS OF EXTRACTING OIL. 407 



Another similar board is afterwards introduced at 

 the farthest extremity of the cooler, and pas.^cd for- 

 ward in the same maimer, whereby the little, oil 

 which escapes the first is collected. !N^ow the rem- 

 nant, which still refuses to run off by the orifice of 

 the stop-cock, being collected in a corner, is taken 

 up by skimmers ; and the footing or sediment which 

 ajipears at the last, is disposed of in the same way 

 as the footing fi*om the copper, until the oil it con- 

 tains rises to the surface and can be removed. 



In most of the out-ports, the oil is generally de- 

 posited in casks, in which it remains until it is dis- 

 posed of by the importers. In London, however, 

 and in some concerns in Hull and other ports, the 

 speculators in the whale- fishery are provided with 

 cisterns or tanks, wherein they can deposite their 

 oil, and preserve it until a convenient time for sell- 

 ing, without being subject to the waste which usu- 

 ally takes place when it is put into casks. From 

 these cisterns, any quantity c£in be drawn off at 

 pleasure. 



The smell of oil, during its extraction, is undoubt- 

 edly disagreeable ; but perhaps not more so than 

 the vapour arising from any other anim.al substance 

 submitted to the action of heat when in a putrid 

 state. The prevailing opinion, however, that a 

 whale-ship must always give out tlie same unplea- 

 sant smell is quite erroneous. The fact is, that 

 the fat of the whale, in its fresh state, has no 



