354 CETACEA. 



recorded where a wounded old whale remained an hour and twenty 

 minutes without rising. When it did appear, it was terribly exhausted. 



The whale possesses numerous enemies, the chief being the Gladiator 

 Dolphin, the most savage of all Cetacea. The Thresher and Greenland 

 Shark do not attack it while alive. A very circumstantial account, 

 given by many writers, of a combat between the sword-fish and the 

 whale, originated in a misconception, the name sword-fish being applied 

 by many sailors to the above-mentioned Gladiator Dolphin. Each kind 

 of whale has its own peculiar kind of parasite, one has the Coromila, 

 another the Diadema, a third the Tubicinilla. They are all sunk beneath 

 the surface of the skin, with the aperture for the free valve exposed, and 

 as they grow in size, they sink deeper into the skin. Birds have often 

 been observed alighting on the backs of whales for the purpose of pick- 

 ing up these cirripeds, but the operation does not seem to be acceptable 

 to the marine monster, which usually dives with the utmost speed when 

 it feels the first dig of the bird's beak. 



The whale is an animal of great importance to civilized and to savage 

 men. The oil which is procured in great quantities from its blubber and 

 other portions of its structure is almost invaluable to us, while the bones 

 and baleen find their use in every civilized land. To the natives of the 

 polar regions, however, the whale is of still greater value, as they pro- 

 cure many necessaries of life from various parts of its body, eat the flesh, 

 and drink the oil. Repulsive as such a diet may appear to us who live 

 in a warm region, it is an absolute necessity in these ice-bound lands, 

 such oleaginous diet being needful in order to keep up the heat of the 

 body by a bountiful supply of carbon. But the best part of the whale is 

 one that would hardly be expected to form an article of diet, namely the 

 portion of the gums in which the roots of the baleen are still imbedded. 

 The Tuskis call this substance their sugar, though its flavor is very like 

 that of cream-cheese. One traveler who had been obliged, through 

 motives of politeness, to take part in a native banquet, and who had been 

 more than disgusted by the very remarkable dishes which were brought 

 to table, became quite enthusiastic on the merits of whale's skin and 

 gum, acknowledging himself to be agreeably surprised by the former, 

 and calling the latter article of diet " perfectly delicious." On the shores 

 of the Polar Sea whalebone is used for building purposes, and the dwell- 

 ings thus constructed are described as better and more solid than most 

 of the Siberian huts on that bleak coast. 



