SPERMACETI. AMBERGRIS. SPERM WHALE. 129 



sertion, by their edges, to a sort of fibre-cartilaginous cover, 

 which transforms the basin, we have just described, into a long, 

 cylindrical cavity, divided into two stories by a membranous 

 partition, also extended from the margin of one maxillary bone to 

 that of the other. These two chambers are filled with adipocire, 

 a sort of oil which becomes fixed on cooling, well known in com- 

 merce under the name of Spermaceti: they communicate with 

 canals which go to different parts of the body and are connected 

 with the sub-cutaneous fatty tissue or blubber, and also contain 

 adipocire: in proportion as the great upper reservoir is emptied, 

 it refills with this fatty matter. 



43. The channel of the vent, (spiracle) passes obliquely through 

 this mass of adipocire and opens a little to the left, near the supe- 

 rior edge of the snout which terminates the head of the Cachalot 

 in front. The jets of water spouted from it, are directed obliquely 

 forwards , they ascend higher and occur more frequently than in 

 the whale, and are attended with a noise which may be heard at 

 a long distance. The layer of fat, which lies beneath the skin, 

 constituting what is called blubber by whalers, is not so thick 

 and does not furnish so much oil, as in the whale. The odorous 

 substance known under the name of Ambergris^ sometimes met 

 with floating on the surface of the sea, appears to be a morbid 

 concretion formed in the intestines of these animals. 



44. The Cachalot inhabits, from choice, the equatorial regions 

 of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. They are met with in pretty 

 numerous bands composed of females led by two or three males, 

 which are much larger than the former. They seem to feed 

 chiefly on the large mollusca ; but we are assured that they do not 

 spare the largest fishes, and are objects of terror to all the in- 

 habitants of the sea. 



45. The different species are not well ascertained. The best 

 known is the common sperm whale Physeter Macrocephulus, 

 which has a callous prominence in place of a dorsal fin. The 

 muzzle, which is of a cubic form, is truncated in front, and the 

 vent or spiracle, which is double in most other cetacea, is single. 

 The length of this animal is about seventy feet, and the bi-lobed 

 fin which terminates the tail is about eight feet wide. 



43. What is the direction of the water ppouted through the spiracle of the 

 Cachalot? What is blubber? What is ambergris ? 



44. Where does the Cachalot resort from choice ? What does the Sperm 

 Whale feed upon ? 



45. What are the characters of the common Sperm Whale ? Is the spiracle 

 double or single ? What is the size of this animal? 



V2 



