254 CETACEA. 



9 



slender and pointed, and has numerous stout conical teeth, while 

 the upper jaw contains either none or a few which do not per- 

 fjrate the gums. Hence the name Catodontida. The blow-holes 

 have but one orifice, situated at the top of the muzzle. The 

 three genera constituting the family, agree in their essential char- 

 acteristics; we therefore omit a detailed and 'separate description 

 and confine our remarks to the Calodon, or Physeter macrocepha- 

 lus, (juax^oj, long; xsqpaAy, a head,) the Northern Sperm-Whale. 

 It is sometimes called the Cachalot, a term derived from Cachon, 

 a tooth, in the Basque (Spanish) language. The Sperm-Whale 

 (Plate VIII. fig. 3,) is of enormous size, being between seventy 

 and eighty feet in length, and from thirty to thirty-five in circum- 

 ference. From its frequent paroxysms of fury it is one of the 

 most dangerous monsters of the deep. Jt is found in all latitudes, 

 but is a native of the Arctic and Antarctic Seas, where it is seen 

 attended by its young. Sperm- Whales usually appear in parties 

 of from two to five hundred, guarded by one or two males of the 

 largest size. In the upper part of the head there is an immense 

 cavity, divided into compartments and smaller cells, filled with 

 oil which is fluid when the animal is alive, but hardens when cooled 

 or after the animal is dead, and is known under the name of sperm- 

 aceti. A hole is made in the head as soon as the whale is killed 

 and the spermaceti is. baled out with buckets. When the first 

 process of squeezing and draining the oil is over, the yellow, 

 unctuous and impure mass of cetine is put into bags made of 

 hair or woolen, and further pressed between plates of iron in a 

 screw press until it becomes hard and brittle ; it is then broken 

 into small pieces and thrown into boiling water, where it melts 

 and the impurities are separated from it. After being cooled 

 and taken from the first water, it is put into a boiler of clean 

 water and a weak solution of potash is gradually added. This 

 is thrice repeated, after which the whole is poured into coolers, 

 where it crystalizes, and on being cut, exhibits the beautiful flaky 

 appearance belonging to the spermaceti of commerce. An ordi- 

 nary sized whale will yield from ten to twelve barrels of crude 

 spermaceti. Ambergris, which is used as a perfume, and often 

 found floating on the surface of the sea, is a fatty concretion 

 formed by disease in the intestines. Upon the ivory teeth of 

 the Sperm-Whales, sailors often show their taste in carving fig- 

 ures of various kinds. These whales produce but one young at 

 a time, about fourteen feet in length, and having a skin much 

 thicker than that of the old ones. The milk by which the young 

 are nourished resembles that of quadrupeds. The throat of the 

 Sperm-Whale is capacious enough to give passage to the body 



