THE SPERM-WHALE 



(PJiyseter macrocephalus) 



BOTH on account of the value of its products, and of the terrible 

 revenge it sometimes takes on its assailants, the Sperm-Whale, if not 

 absolutely the largest, is the most noteworthy of the beasts of the 

 sea. In these days of popular education, it is hardly necessary to 

 remind readers of this book that the Sperm-Whale is a beast, and not 

 a fish, though the latter term is commonly applied to the members of 

 the order Cetacea, to which all the Whales and other similar animals 

 belong. 



Under the skin of its fins are the bones of a beast's fore-paw, and 

 it breathes the air just like a land animal ; hence the tail-fin is hori- 

 zontal, to aid rising in the water. The "blow-hole," however, is not 

 situated on the top of the head, as in other Cetaceans, but at the end 

 of the huge muzzle, in a position more in accordance with that of the 

 nostrils of other beasts, to which it corresponds. It is, however, but 

 a single orifice, as in other toothed Whales, whereas the "blow-hole" 

 in the Whalebone Whales is a double orifice, like the nostrils of beasts 

 in general. 



In the form of its massive head the Sperm-Whale differs from all 

 other Cetaceans. Seen "end on," the muzzle is widest in the middle, 

 and tapers above, and much more below ; its great bulk is mostly made 

 up of a collection of cells containing oil laden with the characteristic 

 product of spermaceti, and underneath this a mass of fat, the outline 

 of the actual skull being quite different, as it is beaked much like that 

 of an ordinary Porpoise. The lower jaw is also peculiar, being very 

 long and narrow; it is well provided with large conical teeth, set well 

 apart, and without enamel covering. Their number varies remarkably, 

 from twenty to twenty-five on each side ; while it is quite common for 

 the two sides of the jaw not to match in this respect. In old males 



ii. 



