Whales as the Whalers Knew Them 173 



Whale Fishery. Dr. James H. Weeks, of Ston- 

 ington, Connecticut, in a series of articles on 

 A Whale ship's History, printed in the Westerly, 

 Rhode Island, Sun, in 1900, in speaking of the 

 sulphur-bottom whale, says : 



"Captain Frederick Smith has a section of 

 a backbone taken from this species in his yard 

 [on Elm, corner of Cutler Street, Stonington], 

 [that] was taken from a whale which, on the 

 beach, measured 150 feet." 



Turning again to the life habits of the whales, 

 consider how they breathe. The sperm whale 

 comes to the surface, raises its head, and for 

 three seconds expels the foul air from its lungs. 

 The exhaled air is full of moisture, and when 

 this vapor settles on human skin it is so acrid 

 as to create pain. Fresh air is drawn in so 

 rapidly "that hardly an instant is required." 

 The exhalation and inspiration, or the "blow- 

 ings," are repeated sixty or seventy times at a 

 rising, the whole time devoted thus to renewing 

 the air of the lungs and aerating the blood being 

 twelve minutes on the average. Then the whale 

 dips its head under water, raises its tail until 



