popular JBtrtumary of &m'matett Mature. 739 



sary to raise the whole of the anterior flat 

 surface of the nose out of the water ; in case 

 the animal should wish to increase its speed 

 to the utmost, the narrow inferior surface 

 which has been before stated, to bear some 

 resemblance to the cutwater of a ship, and 

 which would in fact answer the same pur- 

 pose to the whale, would be the only part 

 exposed to the pressure of the water in front, 

 enabling him thus to pass with the greatest 

 celerity and ease through the boundless 

 I tracks of his wide domain. It is in this shape 

 j of the head that the Sperm Whale differs in 

 I the most remarkable degree from the Green- 

 land Whale, the shape of whose head more 

 resembles that of the porpoise, and in it the 

 nostril is situated much further back, ren- 

 dering it seldom or never necessary for the 

 nose to be elevated above the surface of the 

 water, and when swimming even at the 

 greatest speed, the Greenland Whale keeps 

 nearly the whole of the head under it, but 

 as his head tapers off evenly in front, this 

 circumstance does not much impede his mo- 

 tion, the rate of which is, however, never 

 equal to that of a Sperm Whale. It seems, 

 indeed, in point of fact, that this purpose of 

 rendering the head of light specific gravity, 

 is the only use of this mass of oil and fat, 

 although many have supposed, and not 

 without some degree of probability, that the 

 ' junk ' especially may be serviceable in 

 obviating the injurious effects of concussion, 

 should the Whale happen to meet with any 

 obstacle when in full career ; this supposi- 

 tion, however, would appear hardly tenable 

 when we consider the Greenland Whale, 

 although living among the rock-like icebergs 

 of the Arctic Seas, has no such convenient 

 provision, and with senses probably in all, 

 and certainly in one respect, less acute than 

 those of the Sperm Whale, on which account 

 it would seem requisite for him to possess 

 this defence rather than the Sperm Whale, 

 whose habitation is, for the most part, in the 

 smiling latitude of the Southern Seas. 



" The several humps and ridges on the 

 back of the Sperm Whale constitute another 

 difference in their external aspect ; these 

 prominences, however, are by no means pe- 

 culiar only to the Sperm Whale, as they are 

 possessed also by several other species of 

 Whales, as the Razor-back and Broad-nosed 

 Whales, and some others ; and it would seem 

 that the possession of these parts marks those 

 Whales which are noted for their swiftness 

 in flight, and their activity in endeavouring 

 to defend themselves when attacked, which 

 may be explained in this way, or it may be 

 considered probable, that these prominences 

 result from a greater development, in the 

 situations where they are placed, of those 

 processes of the vertebrae or bones composing 

 the spine, called the spinal processes, and to 

 which the muscles principally used in pro- 

 gression and other motions are attached, as 

 well as those muscles and ligaments which 

 support the long and bulky head ; they con- 

 sequently must indicate an increase in the 

 size and strength of these muscles and liga- 

 ments, &c., and on this account constitute a 

 very remarkable difference between those 

 Whales possessed of them, and those not so 



I furnished. This distinction is so great, that 

 ! it induced Lae<?pede to divide the genus Ba- 

 | lama into those with a hump and those with- 

 out, employing the name Balania for the 

 latter, and styling the others Balaenoptera. 



" The skin of the Sperm Whale, as of all 

 other cetaceous animals, is without scales, 

 smooth, but occasionally, in old whales, 

 wrinkled, and frequently marked on the 

 sides by linear impressions, appearing as if 

 rubbed against some angular body. The 

 colour of the skin, over the greater part of 

 its extent, is very dark most so on the 

 upper part of the head, the back, and on the 

 flukes, in which situations it is in fact some- 

 times black ; on the sides it gradually as- 

 sumes a lighter tint, till on the breast it be- 

 comes silvery gray. In different individuals 

 there is, however, considerable variety of 

 shade, and some are even piebald. Old 

 ' Bulls,' as full-grown ;males are called by 

 whalers, have generally a portion of gray 

 on the nose, immediately above the fore part 

 of the upper jaw, and they are then said to 

 be gray-headed. In young whales the skin 

 is about three-eighths of an inch thick, but 

 in old ones it is not more than one-eighth. 

 Immediately beneath the ' black skin ' lies 

 the blubber, or fat, which on the breast of a 

 large whale acquires the thickness of 14 

 inches, and on most other parts of the body, 

 it measures from 8 to 11. This covering is 

 called, by South Sea whalers, the blanket ; 

 it is of a light yellow colour, and when 

 melted down furnishes the Sperm oil. The 

 blubber serves two excellent purposes to the 

 whale, in rendering it buoyant, and in fur- 

 nishing it with a warm protection from the 

 coldness of the surrounding element, in this 

 last respect answering well to the name be- 

 stowed upon it by the sailors." 



The ingenious and intelligent author, from 

 whose pamphlet we have made the pre- 

 ceding extracts, gives an account of the 

 Rise and Progress of the Fishery, and of the 

 modes of pursuing, killing, and " cutting in " 

 the Sperm Whale. To the Pamphlet itself, 

 as well as to Mr. Beale's more elaborate 

 history of this important Whale, therefore, 

 we beg to refer such of our readers as would 

 wish for a more detailed narrative. We 

 shall conclude with one short extract more 

 from Mr. Beale's able " Observations." 



" In calm weather great difficulty is some- 

 times experienced in approaching the Whale 

 on account of the quickness of his sight and 

 hearing. Under these circumstances the 

 fishers have recourse to paddles instead of 

 oars, and by this means can quietly get near 

 enough to make use of the harpoon. When 

 first struck, the Whale generally ' sounds,' 

 or descends perpendicularly to an amazing 

 depth, taking out perhaps the lines belonging 

 to the four boats, 800 fathoms ! afterwards, 

 when weakened by loss of blood and fatigue, 

 he becomes unable to 'sound,' but passes 

 rapidly along the surface, towing after him 

 perhaps three or four boats. If he does not 

 turn, the people in the boats draw in the 

 line by which they are attached to the Whale, 

 and thus easily come up with him. even when 



oing with great velocity ; he is then easily 

 ced, and soon killed." 



goi 

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