WHALE-LAND AND ITS CUSTOMS. 127 



is any strain on the shaft. Another modern 

 device is the gun harpoon, a short bar of iron 

 with a barb at the end, and a ring with a 

 chain for attachment to the line. This is fired 

 from a gun in the hands of the officer. A very 

 effective expedient was suggested by the eminent 

 toxicologist, Sir R. Christison, of Edinburgh 

 University. By this device glass tubes con- 

 taining prussic acid are so placed in the shafts 

 of the harpoon that the instant the line is pulled 

 tight they are broken, the poison occasioning 

 instant death. Another mode of employing 

 prussic acid is to enclose a glass tube containing 

 it in a hollow bullet about four inches long, 

 which is fired from a rifle made for the purpose, 

 the bullet also containing an explosive connected 

 with a fuse which is kindled as the rifle is fired, 

 so that the bullet bursts immediately after 

 entering the body of the whale, and spreads its 

 deadly contents through the flesh. Strychnia is 

 sometimes used instead of prussic acid with 

 similar results. A whale killed by these methods 

 only disappears for about five minutes, then 

 comes to the surface and instantly dies. But 

 rapid and effective as are these last-named 

 methods, their use is strongly disliked by whalers, 

 who have an unconquerable aversion to handling 



