INTRODUCTORY 



manufactured into small canes or whips. Horns and hoofs are also 

 largely employed in the manufacture of glue. 



Formerly the so-called whalebone, or more properly baleen, 

 was much used, especially to form the ribs of umbrellas and in 

 stiffening ladies' apparel, but the gradual destruction of the Right 

 Whales, its only source of supply, has largely restricted its use of 

 late years. 



The Cetacea are also of great economical importance from the 

 abundance of oil yielded by the thick layer of blubber underlying 

 the skin. Large quantities of valuable oil are also furnished by 

 the Walrus and the Seals. Spermaceti, which was at one time 

 extensively used in the manufacture of candles, is obtained from a 

 large cavity in the head of the Sperm Whale or Cachalot, and also 

 from the Hyperoodon or Bottle-nosed Whale. 



The nature of ambergris, a peculiar substance found floating on 

 the surface of the sea and employed in perfumery, was long a 

 matter of controversy ; but it appears to be an intestinal concretion 

 of the Sperm Whale. Other substances of more importance to the 

 perfumer are musk, the product of the Musk-Deer of the Himalaya, 

 and civet, which is obtained from the so-called Civet Cat and other 

 allied Carnivores. A secretion of the Beaver has also been used in 

 perfumery and in medicine. 



