PllErATlATION OF WHAI-F.BONE. 419 



shears to the edge, aud completely detaches all the 

 fringe of hair connected with it. Another person, 

 who is generally the superintendant of the concern, 

 afterwards receives it, washes it in a vessel of clean 

 water, and removes with a bit of wood, the impuri- 

 ties out of the cavity of the root. Thus cleansed, it 

 is exposed to the air and sun until thoroughly dry, 

 when it is removed into a warehouse, or other place 

 of safety and shelter. 



Before it is offered for sale, it is usually scrubbed 

 with brushes and hair-cloth, by which the surface 

 receives a polish, and all dirt or dust adhering to it 

 is removed ; and, finally, it is packed in portable 

 bundles, consisting of about a hundred weight each. 

 The size-hone, or such pieces as measure six feet 

 or upward in length, is kept separate from the un- 

 der-size ; the latter being usually sold at half the 

 price of the former. Each blade being terminated 

 with a quantity of hair, there is sometimes a diffi- 

 culty in deciding, whether some blades of whalebone 

 are size or not. Owing to the diminished value of 

 under-size bone, and more particularly, in conse- 

 quence of the captain and some of the officers en- 

 gaged in a fisliing ship, having a premium on every 

 size fish, it becomes a matter of some importance in 

 a doubtful case, to decide this point. From a decision, 

 which I understand has been made in a court of law, 

 it is now a generally received rule, that so much of 

 the substance terminating each blade, as gives rise 



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