28 CALIFORNIA MAMMALS. 



hind the eyes, aiul in size rarely exceed six feet in leng-tJi and 

 three feet in breadth. The caudal fin is about six feet in breadth, 

 and measures from twelve tO' fifteen feet between the extremities, 

 or about one-sixth of the length of the whole animal. Unlike 

 the baleen whales the Cachelot has but one spiracle, or blow-hole, 

 which is placed near the upper and anterior extremity of the 

 head, a little on the left side ; its external form is nearly like the 

 letter S. This fissure in the adult is ten to tw^elve inches in length. 

 The color of the Sperm Whale is black, or blackish brown above ; 

 a little lighter on the sides below, except on the breast, where it 

 becomes a silvery gray. Some examples, however, are piebald. 



"In the young Sperm Whales, as in the young of all ceta- 

 ceans, the black-skin, or epidermis, is much heavier than in adults, 

 it being a half an inch in thickness or thereabouts, while it does 

 not exceed a quarter of an inch in the old whale. As age ad- 

 vances the skin becomes more furrowed. Beneatli the black-skin 

 lies the rich coating of fat or blubber, which yields the valuable 

 oil of commerce. The head produces nearly one-third O'f all the 

 oil obtained. Next to and above the bone of the upper jaw 

 (which is termed the 'coach' or 'sleigh'), is a huge mass of 

 cartileginous, elastic, tough fat, which is called the 'junk.' Above 

 the junk, ou the right side of the head, is a large cavity, or sack, 

 termed the 'case,' which contains oil in its naturally fluid state 

 together with the granulated substance know^n as 'spermaceti.' 

 From this capacious hidden receptacle as much as fifteen barrels 

 of head-matter has been taken. The 'ambergris' which is so 

 highly prized, is nothing more than the retained anal concretion 

 of a diseased whale. In the left side of the cranium, above the 

 junk, is the breathing passage or nostril of the whale. This, 

 with the case is protected by a thick, tough, elastic substance called 

 the 'head skin" which is proof against the harpoon. 



"We now come to the general habits of this gigantic animal, 

 relative to its movements in the vast oceans O'f the globe. Among 

 the whole order of the Cetaceans there is no other which respires 

 with the same regularity as the Cachelot. When emerging to 



