THE SPERM-WHALE. 403 
to the bulk of the head. Camper discovered, that in a head twenty 
feet long, the cavity of the cranium was only ten inches. While 
the fish is alive, the spermaceti is in the form of an oily fluid, and 
it solidifies after death. The spermaceti is obtained pure by com- 
pressing this secretion in a woollen bag, and then boiling it in 
an alkaline liquor, to separate the remaining oil. It is then 
washed and poured into jars. 
M. Quoy calculated, that a cachalot from the Moluccas, sixty- 
two feet long, yielded twenty-four barrels of spermaceti, each one 
containing two and a half cwts. Consequently, this one animal 
furnished three tons. 
Spermaceti is a solid white substance, glistening like mother-of- 
pearl. It is very soft to the touch, and breaks easily into flakes. 
It is used in making candles; it is also one of the ingredients of 
pomatum, and of the cold-cream so much recommended for soften- 
ing the skin. Ambergris is nothing more than a kind of intestinal 
calculus, or a portion of the food of the whale imperfectly digested. 
This substance, which is in such demand for perfumery, and is so 
valued by fair ladies, has a very ignoble origin. The unpleasant 
source whence it is derived makes the delicacy of its scent the 
more astonishing ; for ambergris, the most valuable product of the 
cachalot, is a morbid secretion or disease. 
Some zoologists consider that all whales in their normal state 
furnish this substance; others suppose it to be only the result of 
certain diseases, and therefore an accidental product. Ambergris 
is frequently found floating on the water, or deposited on the beach. 
The places where it is most collected, are the coasts of Japan, the 
Molucca Isles, India, Madagascar, and Brazil. The food of the 
cachalot appears greatly to influence this substance. It seems that 
it is produced by pulpy mussels, cuttle-fish, and even offensive 
refuse, agglomerated and ill-digested. Many of the secretions of 
the inhabitants of the ocean world exhale the strong odour of musk, 
for which ambergris is noted. The whalers learn the shores 
frequented by the animals, by this excrement which the waves cast 
upon the beach. It is a solid fatty substance, resembling wax, 
tolerably hard, and lighter than water. Its colour is dark or ashy . 
grey, it is sometimes of a yellow, or brown tint, and often covered 
with a white efflorescence which forms on the surface, and even 
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