THE DAILY UNION. 



rThe Sperm Whale and its Food. 

 The full-grown male Sperm Whale ia from six- 

 ty to seventy feet long, aad not far from 30 feet 

 in circumference in the largest part. The head 

 in front is nearly square, or has the corners 

 rounded off, and is much thinner next the lower 

 jaw, becoming thicker towards the back, where 

 it ia almost as broad as the back, increasing a 

 little in size up to the eyes, which are located 

 abuut one-third of the whole length of the fish 

 from the extreme end of the nose. The eyes 

 are about twice as large as those of an ox, and 

 have lids to shut over the ball. From this fact 

 we may suppose it sometimes sleeps, although I 

 never caught one so : the lid may serve to pro- 

 tect the eye from injury. Be this as it may, 

 none but this species of whale, or such as breathe 

 the atmosphere, have eves with lids that can be 

 hut. 



From the eye, the body enlarges a little, until 



we come to the middle of the fish, and from 



here it tapers down to the tail or flukes, as whale- 



)-, men call them. The flukes are about ten feet 



across, and lie horizontal when hi natural posi- 



| lion. 



There Is a large hump on the lower part of the 

 back, and several small ones near the tail. There 

 are two small fins, one on each side, just behind 

 and below the eye ; these fins are about three 

 feet long, and one and a half wide. I think their 

 j only use is to steer with. The upper jaw is about 

 fifteen feet long from the socket to the extreme 

 end or point ; the lower jaw is armed with large 

 teeth, which stand apart separately ; there are 

 from twenty to twenty-five on each 'side. There 

 are no teeth on the upper jaw; instead of them, 

 cavities are provided, into which the lower teeth 

 fit. The tongue is small, about two and a half 

 feet long by one wide. The throat is small, and 

 the fish could not swallow a man : therefore it 

 was not a sperm whale that, swallowed Jonah. 

 When feeding and not disturbed, the fish will 

 stay down under water from one hour to one and 

 a quarter. It then has to come up to the sur- 

 face to breathe or spout, and it will stay up from 

 1 ten to fifteen minutes. In this time it will spout 

 . or breathe from fifty to sixty times. It throws 

 out no water when it spouts, as has been re- 

 1 presented by some. At the end of this time it 

 " turns flukes," or pitches and dives down. 



This whale feeds entirely on the " squid," or 

 cuttle-fish, as I believe they are sometimes called. 

 The "squid," I think, lives by suction; it has 

 no bones in its body, strictly so called ; it has a 

 kind of bill, short and thick in form, something 

 like horn or turtle shell in texture and color. It 

 has two thin pieces of skin on each side, one at 

 each end, or nearly BO, and when small can fly a 

 short distance, on the same principle as the flying- 

 fish or squirrel, by impetus, always rising against 

 the wind. It has long arms or fibres that extend 

 forward from the fore part of the body, with 

 which it embraces and holds whatever is intended 

 as food. They grow to a very large size, and so 

 strong as to drown a man by embracing him. 

 This I was told did actually happen to a native of 

 ,4 the Sandwich Islands while I was there. I have 

 , frequently seen large pieces of ^quK floating on 

 the water, perhaps killed by the sperm whale. 

 I saw a piece once, while sailing, which I judged 

 I to be ten feet Jn diameter. I have taken them 

 from the whale's stomach, whole, from two to 

 J. 



SPERM WHALES. The Nantucket Inquirer pub- 

 ; lishes the following extract from a letter recently 

 received from Callao : "The bark Eliza, Captain 

 Phillips, of Baltimore, reports that while in sight 

 of Staten Land, to the northward, he sailed an en- 

 tire day through large bodies of sperm whales, 

 and as far as he could see, for miics around, the 

 whole ocean was covered -with them. Through 

 the whole day he felt that his ship was in danger, 

 as his deck was wet with the spray from their 

 spouts, BO near were they to his vessel. Captain 

 Phillips is an old llio trader, and having often 

 seen sperm whales off the RWer La Platte, knows 

 them well. He says the number was beyond con r 

 ception." J8& 



A CURIOUS STRUCTURE. --Dr. Hope has in his possession 

 the n esj*tar?i|jula, taken out of the earth at the Mala- 

 ga Rancho/T3ris3t>out three inches in length by two in 

 diameter, built of adobes, the walls being nearly half an 

 inch thick. Inside is a projection, which nearly divides it 

 into two apartments, about, an inch in diameter. The in- 

 side is lined with a white downy substance, not unlike vel- 

 vet, and presents one of the cleanest and most tidv little 

 households imaginable. But the most curious part of it is 

 a door, which (its into an aperture and closes it hermetical- 

 ly. Tae door is secured by a hinjre, formed of the same 

 fibrous substance as the lining of the house, and upon which 

 it swings with freedom. The near is occupied by a dozen 

 little tarantulas, which scorn to subsist upon a yellow se- 

 creted substance that appears upon the walls of "the front 

 apartment. It is a most interesting structure and the -u- 

 ragdment of the door for the protection of the little inmate- 

 indicates great instinctive architectural knowledge It is 

 the intention of the owner to. forward this curiosity to thr 

 Smithsonian Institute, at Washington./,*^ X*-jL4i 



ALLIGATORS. The Sonera Herald says that the 

 workmen engaged on the Columbia and Stanis- 

 laus River Water Company's Tunnel, some few 

 months ago came across the under jaw-bone of an 

 alligator, imbedded at, a depth or three hundred 

 and fifty feet from the surface. 



[The writer of the foregoing article is a well 

 known sea captain, and moreover, an inventor 

 of much ingenuity. He relates his account of the 

 sperm whale from his own observation while 

 among them in" the Pacific Ocean. His state,- 

 ,ment, therefore, may be looked upon as correct, 

 besides being of much interest to the reader. 

 ED.] Scientific American. 



' Jenyus, the English naturalist, states that 

 he knew a tame owl so fond of music that he 

 would enter the drawing rooms of an evening 

 and perched on the shoulder of the children, 

 listen with great attention to the tones of the 

 piano forte, holding his head first on one side, 

 and then on the other, after the manner of 

 connoisseurs. One night, after spreading his - 

 wings, as if it were unable to endure bis rap. ' 

 ture aoy longer, be alighted on the keys, driv- 

 ing away the fingers of the performer with : 

 his beak, began to hop about on the keys j 

 himself, apparently in great delight with his 

 own execution. 



A GRIZZLY THIEF KiLLED.-^About a week 

 since, Jacob L Popart, of Bear Valley, Nevada 

 county, was aroused by a noise during the night. 

 According to the Democrat^ a piece of meat had 

 been hung to the limb of a tree, near a cabin oc- 

 cupied by Mr. Keopart and several other?, and 

 about the middle of the night they heard some- 

 thing trying to pull it down. On going to the 

 door, they saw the grizzly standing on his hind 

 legs eating the meat. Keopart took an ax, slip- 

 ped up behind him, and struck him on the head 

 with the edge, splitting hid skull and scattering 

 his brains on the ground. The grizzly turned and 

 showed fight, but the others coming up, armed 

 with axes and clubs, he was soon overpowered 

 and killed. He weighed about five hundred 

 pounds. 



