CHAPTER III. 



THE SPERM WHALES AND BLACK FISH. 



THE FAMILY CATODONTID/E — THE SPERM WHALES — SPERMACETI — THEIR SPEED — THEIR FURY 

 WHEN PROVOKED — THE STORY OF THE SHIP " ESSEX " — OTHER SHIPS DESTROYED BY THIS 

 WHALE — AMBERGRIS — SPECULATIONS AS TO ITS ORIGIN — FOOD OF THE SPERM WHALE — BLACK 

 FISH — THE GENUS COGIA. 



THE family Catodontid.^, comprising the Cachalots or Sperm 

 whales and the Black-fish, are distinguished from the true whales 

 by having teeth in the lower jaw, and by being destitute of 

 whalebone. While the two preceding families are dwellers in the Arctic 

 and Antarctic regions, the toothed whales prefer the Tropical seas. The 

 general characteristics of the family are as follows : The head is very 

 large, and truncated in front ; the blow-holes are separate, and situated 

 in the front of the head ; the pectoral fins are short and broad ; in the 

 upper jaw the teeth are only rudimentary. The numerous teeth in the 

 lower jaw fit into holes in the gums of the upper. The family comprises 

 four genera. 



GENUS CATODON. 



The skull of the animals of this genus occupies nearly one-third of the 

 entire length of the body. Gray assigns to it two species, but expe- 

 rienced fishermen affirm that there is only one species, which is pro- 

 foundly modified in form and size by location and abundance of food. 



THE SPERM WHALES. 



The Sperm Whale, Catodon viacroccphalus (Plate XXIX) is called 

 " Cachalot " by the French, and " Pottfish " bv the Dutch, and attains a 

 considerable size. An adult male measures from sixty to seventy feet in 

 length, a female about thirty to forty feet. The long, abruptly trun- 



