158 THE SPERMACETI WHALE. 



by Schewediawer in the Phil. Tram. 1783, that 

 the Cachalots often project the column towards the 

 left side. 



When we tnm from the classical description of 

 Cuvier to the more popular statement of Beale, we 

 find that, though there is a general agreement, yet 

 there are also several discrepancies ; as there is hke- 

 wise between his pictorial representation (see PI. ix.) 

 and those which had been previously published; 

 of which we consider our Plate viii., taken from 

 Mr. Robertson's in the Philosoph. Trans, as the most 

 authentic and the best. Whether these discrepancies 

 arise from differences of species, time alone can show. 

 He perfectly agrees as to the size, making it eighty 

 feet, and adds, that its largest circumference seldom 

 exceeds thirty or thii*ty-five feet. The colour over 

 the greater part of the surface is very dark ; in parts 

 quite black, on the sides it assumes a lighter tint, 

 and on the breast is silvery grey. Sometimes it is 

 piebald. " Old bulls," as the old grown whales are 

 called by the fishers, have generally a portion of 

 grey on their nose, and they are then said to be 

 grey-headed. The blubber in a large whale, on the 

 breast, is about fourteen inches thick, and on most 

 other parts of the body it measures from eight to 

 eleven inches. This covering the southern whalers 

 call the blanket ; it is of a light-yeUow colour, and 

 when melted down yields the sperm oil. Mr. Beale 

 does not corroborate, or rather, by saying nothing 

 about it, contradicts the statement regarding the 

 want of syiimietry in the eyes and the blow -holes. 



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