374 CETACEA. 



the depth of several inches, and is so deeply buried in the jaw, that the 

 projecting portion of the largest tooth rarely exceeds three inches. The 

 teeth range from seven to nine inches in length. These teeth are very 

 white and polished, are conical in their shape, tolerably sharp while the 

 animal is young but become blunt as the creature increases in years and 

 dimensions. 



In Sibbald's specimen, from the tip of the snout to the eyes was a 

 distance of twelve feet, and the upper part of the snout projected nearly 

 five feet beyond the tip of the lower jaw. The eyes were remarkably 

 small, about the size of those of the common haddock. As may be 

 supposed from the popular name of this animal, the color of its skin is 

 almost uniformly black. The throat is larger, in proportion, than that 

 of other whales. One of these animals is said to have beeji thrown 

 ashore at Nice, in the month of November, 1736; when the head was 

 opened, it was found to contain spermaceti, which lay in a mass two 

 feet in thickness in the usual locality. 



This species is frequently seen on the coast of the Shetland Islands in 

 summer. 



GENUS COGIA. 



The two species of this genus are both inhabitants of the Southern 

 seas. They are considerably smaller than the rest of the family, and as 

 in the dimensions of the head .they resemble the dolphins, they are com- 

 monly known as the " Short-headed " Whales. 



The methods of taking the Sperm Whales are identical with those 

 already described as emplo3-ed in the capture of the other whales, and 

 the ships engaged are principally from the United States and Australia. 



