AQUATIC PKODUCTS IN ARTS AND INDUSTKIKS. 2()7 



added, and the whole ln-ouiilit to a gentle boil l)y means of a slight 

 fire. At this point a little overheating will effect great injury. When 

 the eooking is completed the pot is allowed to cool and the follow- 

 ing morning the oil is skimmed off. The product of head oil from 

 individual black-fish ranges from three-fourths of a gallon to 3 gallons, 

 averaging probably about 2 gallons. At ordinary temperatures the 

 blubber oil and the head oil of black-fish are much alike in their 

 ai)pearance, thiis furnishing great temptation to the fishermen to mix 

 a little of the cheap product with that of greater value, resulting in 

 much vexation and loss to the refiner, as it is only in the process of 

 refinement that the adulteration is revealed. 



In addition to the black-fish secured by the sperm-whalers, large 

 numbers have been captured on the shores of Cape Cod, where 

 they are attracted by squid on which they feed. The animals are 

 surrounded by boats and driven like cattle to the beaches, and are 

 there stranded in endeavoring to escaj^e. They are lanced to death 

 and when the tide falls the blubber and the oil-producing head 

 matter are stripped off and conveyed to try- works on the shore, where 

 the oil is extracted in much the same manner as already described for 

 the vessel fishery. 



The greatest catch of black-fish on Cape Cod was made in 1884, 

 On November 17 of that year 1,500 were killed at Blackfish Creek, 

 South Wellfleet, where they had been driven ashore. About a month 

 later 500 more were slain in a great round-up in the bay. Since that 

 time very few have been secured in the bay, nor have they been seen 

 at sea in any such numbers as previous to the slaughter above noted. 



The oil from the blubbei- of porpoise and of black-fish is refined in 

 precisely the same manner as whale oil, but the process of treatment 

 applied to the head oils is far more complicated. These are verj^ lim- 

 pid, of an unusually low weather-test, and have little corrosive effect 

 on metallic surfaces, making them Avhen refined superior for lubricat- 

 ing such delicate mechanisms as watches, chronometers, typewriters, 

 etc. Practicallj' all of these oils secured in the American fisheries 

 are refined at New Bedford and Provincetowm, Mass., there being two 

 refiners at the former place and one at the latter. We are indebted 

 principally to Mr. William F. Nye and to Mr. Joseph K. Nye, of New 

 Bedford, for the subjoined notes relative to the methods of refining. 



In the jDreparation of watch and chronometer oils much depends 

 upon the freshness of the fat at the time the oil is rendered and the 

 freedom of the material from adulterants. Fresh substance pro- 

 duces much better oil than that which has partly decomposed, the 

 product being sweeter and less rancid. No choice seems to exist 

 betw^een the porpoise-jaw oil and the black-fish-head oil, both pro- 

 ducing refined articles of equal merit ; but that of the black-fish 

 seems to be the favorite by a slight margin among the refiners, owing 

 to its having more body, and possibly also to its greater abundance. 

 A peculiarity of these oils is that they improve with age, differing in 



