THE SPERMACETI WHAI.E. 155 



tissue of cells, not only filling up the concavity of the 

 surface of the skull, but giving to the head a singular 

 elevation, the whole being invested by a dense cartila- 

 ginous expansion. Cetine is also found in cells along 

 the back and in other parts of the body. This cetine 

 exists mixed with oil, and, when the whale is killed, a 

 hole is made in the outer and upper part of the head, 

 and the oleaginous fluid is baled out with buckets. The 

 first process is the separation of the oil by means of drain- 

 ing and squeezing; the impure cetine is then put into 

 barrels in the state of a yellow unctuous mass, and is 

 afterwards further purified by the following process : — 

 " The mass is put into hair or woollen bags, and pressed, 

 between plates of iron in a screw-press, until it becomes 

 hard and brittle ; it is then broken into small pieces and 

 thrown into boiling water, where it melts, and the im- 

 ])urities are separated from it. After being cooled and 

 taken from the first water, it is put into a boiler of clean 

 water, and a weak solution of potash is gradually added. 

 This is thrice repeated, after which the whole is poured 

 into coolers, when the spermaceti concretes into a white 

 semi-crystallized mass, and on being cut into small pieces 

 exhibits a beautiful flaky appearance, so well known as be- 

 longing to the spermaceti of commerce." An ordinary-sized 

 whale will yield twelve large barrels of crude spermaceti. 



Like other whales, the cachalot is clothed with a layer 

 of blubber, but in less abundance than in the common 

 whale {Balcena mysticetus). The oil procured from it, 

 however, is thinner and more valuable. Fig. 101 re- 

 presents in outline, 1, the spermaceti whale, with the sec- 

 tions marked for flencing; 2, the anterior aspect of the 

 head ; a, the place where the hole is made ; b, the harpoon ; 

 c, the lance. 



There is another substance produced by the cachalot, 

 known in commerce under the name of ambergris. This 

 substance, in the form of opaque grayish masses, marbled 

 with darker tints, and somewhat hard and brittle, is found 

 floating in many parts of the sea, or thrown up on the 

 shore. It is most abundant in the neighbourhood of the 

 Moluccas and along the coasts of China, Japan, Mada- 



