THE SPERMACETI WHALE. 157 



and somewhat greenish-grey ; below it is whitish, as 

 also round the eyes. The immense cavity at the 

 upper part of the head, covered only by a tendinous 

 but very resisting integument, is divided interiorly 

 imo compartments, also tendinous, which commu- 

 nicate with one another, and into cells filled with 

 oil, which is fluid when the animal is alive, and 

 wliich, when it is dead, takes the concrete form with 

 which we are familiar, under the name of spermaceti ; 

 and which, very absurdly, was long regarded as the 

 brain, which occupies a very small space in the interior 

 of the cranium. The spermaceti is also distributed 

 along the back, and in many other parts of the 

 body, in a way which is not yet clearly explained. 

 The ambergris, again, is found in the intestinal 

 canal, but it has not yet been ascertained in what 

 precise part and under what exact circumstances. 

 The skin is so dense and insensible in its nature, that 

 usually large shells attach themselves to it as to a 

 rock, and there fix their permanent abode : these 

 shells, which are very numerous, are sometimes mis- 

 taken for white patches of the skin. The eyes are 

 alleged to be remarkably small, unequal, and the left 

 often useless. This want of symmetry about the eye 

 and other parts of the face seems a curious circum- 

 stance, which, however, is not confined to this species. 

 The blowing-tubes are likewise very unequal, that on 

 the right side not being one-fourth so large as that 

 on the left. This great size of the left nostril points 

 out the direction of the blowing apparatus, and ex- 

 plains the circumstance first mentioned, we believe, 



