[3] 



THE BOTTLE-NOSE WHALE FISHERY. 



22a 



young males* are geuerally associated, with often an old " bull " as a 

 leader, but as a rule the latter geuerally keep apart. In this respect, 

 as in many others, their habits greatly resemble those of the Sperm 

 Whale of the South Pacific. When STvimraiug undisturbed along the 

 surface of the sea the body is at first submerged with the exception of 

 the anterior portion of the head. Gradually, however, the body emerges 

 as far as the dorsal fin, and after swimming thus for a short distance 

 the speed slackens and the creature prepares to descend by allowing 

 ing the head to sink, the back is elevated, displaying above water an 

 exact segment of a circle. It then deliberately descends, seldom show- 

 ing its tail unless excited. When alarmed or angry, however, it thrashes^ 

 the sea violently with its tail and sometimes leaps bodily out of the 

 water. On one of their number being harpooned the remaining mem- 

 bers of the school refuse to desert it whilst it is alive and thus frequently 

 fall victims to their solicitude; this is occasionally not confined to the 

 herd of which the struck whale is a member, for Captain Gray tells m& 

 they will come from every point of the compass towards the fast whale 

 in the most mysterious manner. They are very difficult to kill, and 

 when wounded dangerous to approach. Captain Gray has known them 

 to run out 700 fathoms of line and to remain under water for twa 

 hours. The food of this species appears to consist almost entirely of 

 spiubs (loligo). 



All the above might with very slight modification have been written 

 of the southern Sperm Whale, but the curious similarity does not cease- 

 here, for the commercial products of the Bottle-nose Whales are almost 

 identical with those of the former; its head contains similar "matter'^ 

 and the oil, of which the full-grown animal yields about a ton, is little, if 

 any inferior, to true sperm oil, its market value being about £60 per ton 

 of 252 -gallons. The following table gives the results yielded by the 

 analysis of a sample of Bottle-nose oil compared with those of a similar 



sample of Pacific sperm oil. 



Public Analyst's Laboratory, No. 1, 



Surry Street, Sheffield, August, 1882. 



Report on a sample of oil from the blubber of the Bottle-nosed Whale received from William 

 Baxter, esq., 20 Harbour street, Peterhead, N. B., on August 11, 1882. 



The following are the results yielded by the sample and by a specimen of genuine 

 sperm oil analyzed for comparison : 



Bottled-nosed 

 Whale oil. 



Sperm Whale- 

 oil. 



Specific gravity at 15.5° C 



Flashing point"° C 



Viscosity (seconds) 



XJnsaponiflable matter (spermyl alcohol) 



Specific gravity of unsaponiflable matter . . 

 KIse of temperature with sulphuric acid ° C 

 Color reaction with sulphuric acid 



.8763 



264 



141 



39 76 



.8363 



41 



Pale brown, 



changing on 



stirring to 



light violet, 



and again to 



brown. 



.877ft 

 260 

 137 

 40 50 

 .8307 

 45 

 Dark brown, 

 becoming- 

 some darker, 

 with tinge 

 of violet on 

 stirring. 



