430 THE SPERMACETI WHALE. 



can prove their claims by the weapons which are found in its body. The person who finds the 

 stranded carcase is by law entitled to one-third of the value. 



The whalers appear to regard this animal with as much detestation as do the European 

 fisherman, for the Greenland Whale has no love for the Rorqual, and seems to avoid the 

 localities where this marine giant takes up its residence. It does not frequent the more icy seas, 

 but prefers the clear waters. The spoutings of the Rorqual are very impetuous, as indeed are 

 all its actions, and while engaged in respiration it shoots along the surface of the water at a 

 velocity of four or five miles an hour instead of lying still during that process, as is the custom 

 with the Greenland Whale. The color of this species is a dark-gray, tinged with blue. 



The name Rorqual is derived from the Norwegian word, which signifies a "Whale with 

 folds," in allusion to the deep longitudinal folds which lie along the under jaw and a consid- 

 erable portion of the lower parts of the animal. The term Boops is from the Greek, and 

 signifies "ox-eyed," in allusion to the small rounded ox-like eyes of the Rorqual. 



The Rorqual can be distinguished while in the water from the Mysticetus by the compara- 

 tively longer and more slender body and more cylindrical form, and by the fact of its possessing 

 a dorsal fin. Its actions too are so peculiar as to mark it out to an experienced eye. 



SUB-ORDER ODONTOCETI. 



TOOTHED WHALES, SPERM WHALES, ETC. 



THE animals which form the next little group of Cetacea are remarkable for their 

 immensely large head with its abruptly terminated snout, and the position of the blow-hole, 

 which is situated upon the fore part of the head, nearly at the tip of the snout. 



They do not possess any baleen, but are armed with a most formidable set of teeth in the 

 lower jaw, which fit into a series of conical depressions in the upper jaw. To a casual observer 

 the upper jaw appears to be devoid of teeth, but on a closer examination it is found to possess 

 a short row of them on each side, which are mostly placed nearer the interior of the jaw than 

 the conical depressions already mentioned, but in some instances are found at the bottom of 

 these cavities. The number of the teeth of the lower jaw is very variable, but the average in 

 adult specimens is about fifty -two. The teeth are heavy, strong, and when the animal is young 

 are rather sharply pointed, but become extremely blunt when worn by the attrition of a long 

 course of service. In Europe the teeth of the CACHALOT, or SPERMACETI WHALE, are of no 

 great value, being considered merely as marine curiosities, and often carved with rude engrav- 

 ings representing the chase of the animal from which they were taken, together with a very 

 precise account of the latitude and longitude, and a tolerably accurate view of the vessel. In 

 the South Sea Islands, however, these teeth are articles of the highest value, being thought 

 worthy of dedication to the idol deities, or at least placed as rare ornaments in the king's 

 house. So great is the conventional value of these teeth, that several wars have arisen from 

 the possession of a Whale's tooth by an inferior and unfortunate chief who had discovered the 

 rarity and meant to keep it. 



The partly-hidden teeth of the iipper jaw are about three inches in length, but they hardly 

 project more than half an inch through the soft parts in which they are imbedded. In prepar- 

 ing the skull of the Spermaceti Whale these teeth are apt to fall out together with the softer 

 parts, as their attachment to the jawbone is very slight. Eight of these teeth have been found 

 on each side of the jaw. 



The CACHALOT is one of the largest of the Whales, an adult male, or "old bull," as it is 

 called by the whalers, measuring from seventy to eighty feet in length, and thirty feet in 

 circumference. The head is enormously long, being almost equal to one-third of the total 

 length. The term Macrocephalus is derived from two Greek words, signifying "long-headed," 

 and has been given to the animal in reference to this peculiarity of structure. Upon the back 



