CETACEOUS FISHES. 



623 



the most precious remains of antiquity. Even 

 for some time after the narwhal was known, 

 the deceit was continued, as those who were 

 possessed of a tooth sold it to great advantage. 



But at present they are too well known to 

 deceive any, and are only shown for what 

 they really are ; their curiosity increasing in 

 proportion to their weight and their size." 



CHAPTER CXL. 



OF THE CACHALOT, AND ITS VARIETIES. 



THE Cachalot, which has generally gone 

 under the name of the spermaceti-whale, till 

 Mr. Pennant very properly made the distinc- 

 tion, by borrowing its name from the French, 

 has severaljteeth in the under jaw, but none 

 in the upper. As there are no less than seven 

 distinctions among whales, so also there are 

 the same number of distinctions in the tribe 

 we are describing. The cachalot with two 

 fins and a black back ; the cachalot with two 

 fins and a whitish back ; that with a spout in 

 the neck; that with a spout in the snout; 

 that with three fins and sharp-pointed teeth; 

 that with three fins and sharp-edged teeth ; 

 and, lastly, the cachalot, with three fins and 

 flatted teeth. 



This tribe is not of such enormous size as 

 the whale, properly so called, not being above 

 sixty feet long, and sixteen feet high. In 

 consequence of their being more slender, 

 they are much more active than the common 

 Avhale; they remain a longer time at the bot- 

 tom ; and afford a smaller quantity of oil. 

 As in the common whale the head was seen 

 to make a third part of its bulk, so in this 

 species the head is so large as to make one 

 half of the whole. The tongue of this ani- 

 mal is small, but the throat is very formidable; 

 and with very great ease it could swallow an 

 ox. In the stomach of the whale scarcely 

 any thing is to be found; but in that of the 

 cachalot there are loads of fish of different 

 kinds; some whole, some half digested, some 

 small, and others eight or nine feet long. 

 The cachalot is, therefore, as destructive 



a A species is mentioned by Fabricius, as being found 

 on the short's of Greenland, much smaller, of a black 

 colour, with two obtuse teeth from the upper jaw, a little 



among lesser fishes, as the whale is harmless; 

 and can at one gulp swallow a shoal of fishes 

 down its enormous gullet. Linnaeus tells us 

 that this fish pursues and terrifies the dol- 

 phins and porpoises so much, as often to 

 drive them on shore. 



But, how formidable soever this fish may 

 be to its fellows of the deep, it is by far the 

 most valuable, and the most sought after by 

 man, as it contains two very precious drugs, 

 spermaceti and ambergris. The use of these, 

 either for the purposes of luxury or medicine, 

 is so universal, that the capture of this ani- 

 mal, that alone supplies them, turns out to 

 very great advantage, particularly since the 

 art has been found out of converting all the 

 oil of this animal, as well as the brain, into 

 that substance called spermaceti. 



This substance, as it is naturally formed, 

 is found in the head of the animal, and is no 

 other than the brain. The outward skin of 

 the head being taken ofl^ a covering of fat 

 offers about three inches thick ; and under 

 that, instead of a bony skull, the animal has 

 only another thick skin that serves for a 

 covering and defence of the brain. The first 

 cavity or chamber of the brain, is filled with 

 that spermaceti which is supposed of the 

 greatest purity and highest value. From 

 this cavity there is generally drawn about 

 seven barrels of the clearest spermaceti, 

 that thrown upon water coagulates like 

 cheese. Below this there is another cham- 

 ber just over the gullet, which is about seven 

 feet high ; and this also contains the drug, 



curved at the tips, very weak, and measuring not above 

 an incli in length : it has likewise a small fin on the 

 back, which is wanting in the common narwhal. 



