TUSK OF THE NARWHAL. 539 
becoming mothers, and forced the innate energies to expend themselves in the development 
of tusks instead of the formation of offspring. The tusks of male swine and other animals, 
the horns of male deer, the mane of male lions, and other similar structures, appear to be 
safety valves to the vital energies, which in the one sex are occupied in the continual 
formation of successive offspring, and in the other find an outlet im the development of 
tooth, horn, and hair, according to the character of the animal. In all probability, the 
health of the animal would greatly suffer if the calcareous and other particles which are 
deposited in the tusk were forced to remain in the system instead of being harmlessly 
removed from it and placed upon its exterior. 
The ivory of the Narwhal’s tusk is remarkably good in quality, being hard and solid, 
capable of receiving a high polish, and possessing the property of retaining its beautiful 
whiteness for a very long period, so that a large Narwhal horn is of no ‘inconsiderable 
commercial value. 
But in former days, an entire tusk of a Narwhal was considered to possess an 
inestimable value, for it was looked upon as the weapon of the veritable unicorn, reft 
from his forehead in despite of his supernatural strength and superhuman intellect. 
Setting aside the rarity of the thing, it derived a practical value from its presumed 
capability of disarming all poisons of their terrors, and of changing the deadliest draught 
into a wholesome beverage. 
This antidotal potency was thought to be of vital service to the unicorn, whose 
residence was in the desert, among all kinds of loathsome beasts and poisonous reptiles, 
whose touch was death and whose look was contamination. The springs and pools at 
which such monsters quenched their thirst were saturated with poison by their contact, 
and would pour a fiery death through the veins of any animal that partook of the same 
water. But the unicorn, by dipping the tip of his horn into the pool, neutralized the 
venom, and rendered the deadly waters harmless. This admirable quality of the unicorn- 
horn was a great recommendation in days when the poisoned chalice crept too frequently 
upon the festive board ;:and a king could receive no worthier present than a goblet 
formed from such valuable material. 
Even a few shavings of unicorn-horn were purchased at high prices, and the ready 
sale for such antidotes led to considerable adulteration—a fact which is piteously recorded 
by an old writer, who tells us that “some wicked persons do make a mingle-mangle 
thereof, as I saw among the Venetians, being as I here say compounded with lime and 
sope, or peradventure with earth or some stone (which things are apt to make bubbles 
arise), and afterwards sell it for the unicorn’s horn.” The same writer, however, supplies 
an easy test, whereby the genuine substance may be distinguished from the imposition. 
“For experience of the unicorn’s horn to know whether it be right or not ; put silk upon 
a burning coal, and upon the silk the aforesaid horn, and if so be that it be true, the silk 
will not be a whit consumed.” 
The native Greenlanders hold the Narwhal in high estimation; for, independently of 
its value, it is welcomed on each succeeding year as the harbinger of the Greenland whale. 
The Narwhal i is, however, of the greatest service to.the Greenlanders, for its long ivory 
tusk is admirably adapted for the manufacture of various household implements rand of 
spear-heads, so that it is the sad fate of many a Narwhal to perish by means of the tooth 
that has been extracted from its near kinsman. It is easily killed, as it possesses no very 
great power of diving, and is soon tired out by means of the inflated buoys which are 
attached to the harpoon, and offer so great a resistance to the water. It seldom descends 
above two hundred fathoms below the. surface, and when it again rises is so fatigued that 
it is readily killed by a sharp spear. 
The oil which is extracted from the blubber is very delicate, but is not present in very 
great amount, as the coating of fatty substance is seldom more than three inches in depth. 
‘About half a ton of oil is obtained from a large specimen. The flesh is much prized by 
the natives, and is not only eaten in its fresh state, but is carefully dried and prepared 
over the fire. 
The colour of this animal is almost entirely black upon the upper surface of the body, 
but is slightly varied by streaks and patches of a deeper tint. The sides fade into greyish- 
