178 NIMROD OF THE SEA; OR, 



bull sperm-whale. These are never observed, so far as I 

 know, on the jaw of whales on other feeding-grounds; nor 

 can I imagine that the shell could maintain its position on 

 a member which is in such active employment during the 

 feeding or fighting season. 



In connection with this theory, I will submit certain facts 

 which may have a bearing upon it. The sperm-whale is fur- 

 nished with an immense receptacle of oil in the head pecul- 

 iar to this species, and quite as remarkable as the vast arte- 

 ries in which the excess of circulating blood is stored, as de- 

 scribed by Sir John, Hunter. At page 85 is a description of 

 the proportions and formation of the junk and case of the 

 sperm-whale; but at that point I neglected to consider a 

 striking peculiarity, i. e., the absence of blood in this immense 

 structure. That the reader may be impressed as I was by 

 this anomalous feature, I will recall the proportions of the 

 mass under consideration. The case and junk of the largest 

 spermaceti may attain a length of twenty-five feet, a depth of 

 eleven, and a breadth of nine feet, or twelve hundred cubic 

 feet; weight about sixty thousand pounds. Now in this ani- 

 mal matter there is not an artery or vein, or a single drop 

 of blood. We find nothing which varies the peculiar color 

 of the pale yellow oily portions, nor do we find evidences of 

 any tubular structure, save the great breathing-pipe. Yet 

 the animal heat is as great throughout the entire head as 

 though the circulation of blood was perfect. How can we 

 account for this ? Is it true, as modern science asserts, that 

 the soluble portions of food in the stomach are taken up in 

 the blood, and, by means of its circulation laden as it is with 

 the products of digestion, the skin, the flesh, and every oth- 

 er part of the body draws from it that which it wants? 

 " The action of each of these organs, the performance of 

 their various duties, involve in their operations a continued 

 absorption of the matters necessary for their support from 



