THE SPERMACETI WHALE. .347 



Which seem to be their principal defence. Being of 

 a gregarious and social disposition, they are always 

 found in herds of several together; and whenever 

 they are attacked, they crowd so closely, that they 

 are embarrassed by the entanglement of their horns, 

 and prevented from descending towards the bottom. 

 The fishermen, in consequence, seldom fail cf making 

 sure of one or two of the hindmost. 



THE SPERMACETI WHALE, OR CACHALOT, 



is not so large as the whale, and consequently does 

 not afford so great a quantity of oil. The head is so 

 disproportioned to the body, that it constitutes the 

 half of its bulk; and the throat is so formidably capa- 

 cious, tbat it is supposed to be capable of swallowing 

 an ox. Its appetite is at the same time so voracious, 

 that it often devours a shoal of fishes at once. This 

 may, with propriety,, be called the tyrant of the deep, 

 and Linnaeus informs us, that dolphins and porpoises 

 are frequently driven ashore by this devouring mon- 

 ster. 



But although this vomcious fish be so terrible to 

 the other inhabitants of the ocean, mankind consider 

 it as. a most valuable animal, on account of the excel- 

 lent drugs it ailbrds. These are spermaceti and am- 

 bergris, which are so universally used as articles of 

 luxury or medicine, that distant and dangerous voy- 

 ages are undertaken solely for the purpose of taking 

 this fish ; and its capture is esteemed a sufficient com- 

 pensation for ail the expence and risk attending the 

 enterprise 



The genuine spermaceti which is naturally produc- 

 ed^ is nothing' but the brain 'of thisiish; and rue of 

 them will yield about sixteen barrels of this valuable 

 commodity. By a simple process lately 'invented, all 

 the oil which it prod-ices may be converted into sper- 

 maceti. Thi* is said to be performed by boiling' it 

 with a lye of pot-ash, and hardening it like soap. Of 

 this substance candles are made, and it is found t be 

 an excellent, as-well as a cheap substitute for wax.' 

 The ambergris is found where the seminal vessels are 

 usually placed in other animals. It is found in bag* 

 0,6 



