44 WHALES 



also gelatine, not only for photographic films and other technical 

 purposes, but also for jellies and similar sweets (Fig, i6). 



Apart from foodstuffs, a host of other articles can be made from whales. 

 Incompletely boiled bones make an excellent fertilizer; the tendons can 

 be used as strings for tennis raquets, and for surgical stitches. Whalebone 

 is still used in a number of countries, such as Japan, for all sorts of articles, 

 corsets included. In Europe, whalebone can still be found in riding crops, 

 in some types of top boot, and as a support for the busbies of British and 

 Danish Guardsmen. Moreover whalebone is occasionally used in the 

 manufacture of brushes, though the industry is none too keen on this 

 practically indestructible substance, and prefers to sell articles that 

 require regular replacement. Sperm Whale teeth can be turned into chess 

 men, mah-yong counters, buttons and all sorts of 'ivory' articles which are 

 often very beautifully carved. Such carving, called scrimshaw work, is a 

 very old skill indeed. W'halers, particularly during the eighteenth and 

 nineteenth centuries, were masters of it, and practised it during the long 

 spells of fog and lulls at sea. The teeth were often decorated with Indian 

 ink, and by far the greatest proportion of these di'awings represent women, 

 ships and Sperm Whales. Even modern whalers, during the long voyages 

 out and home, still have plenty of time to carry on this ancient craft. 

 Their acquaintance with the Antarctic has given them a liking for the 

 penguin, and the curved teeth of the Sperm Whale are admirably suited to 

 reproducing its form. The Japanese and Norwegians even have small 

 handicraft centres for scrimshaw work, and their products are sold in 

 the gift shop attached to the United Nations headquarters in New York. 



The skin of the whale is not suitable for leather products, though the 

 Japanese use certain parts of Sperm Whale skin for that purpose. The liver 

 supplies vitamin A, and the endocrine glands all sorts of valuable hormones 

 used in medicine and veterinary surgery. In a later chapter we shall 

 return to these hormones and also to ambergris, an intestinal product 

 which is often washed ashore or else found in the gut of the Sperm Whale. 

 Ambergris used to play a very important role in the perfume industry. 

 It must be stressed that in spite of the similarity of their names, there is 

 no resemblance at all between amber and ambergris, as has so often been 

 thought. 



It will have become clear by now, that, although oil is still the most 

 important whale product, whales have much more to offer mankind. 

 In fact, apart from the intestines which can adversely affect the colour 

 of the oil, no part of the whale needs to be discarded. 



The number of whales killed annually is surprisingly large. Until 

 recently the overall catch of factory ships operating in the Antarctic was 



