CONTENTS. 13 



belonged to the animal or vegetable kingdom— Ranked as 

 "zoophytes" or animal plants — Aristotle's definition of the 

 sponge — Finest qualities come from the Ottoman Archipelago — 

 Sponge fishery at tlie island of Calymnos — Numbers of persons 

 engaged in the sponge fishery — Depth at which sponges are 

 found — Methods pursued in diving — Average quantity taken — 

 Preparation for market — The sponge in its natural state — Growth 

 and increase of the sponge — Article of commerce — Digestion and 

 respiration — Preservation of the sponge fisheries , , , ,120 — 127 



CHAPTER IX. 



SEALS. 



Arctic summer the proper season for seal fishing — Divisions of labor 

 by the Esquimaux — Seal's flesh their chief food — Ancient super- 

 stitions — Use of blubber — Methods of capturing the seals — Seal 

 fishing the great employment of the Greenlanders — Dangers at- 

 tending — Different species of seals — The sea-calf — Peculiar char- 

 acteristics — Enemies of seals — The bearded or great seal — The 

 hoop-seal — The fur seal — Description, habits, and use — Seals 

 fond of music — Tame sepals — Incidents — The marbled seal — Con- 

 trast between seals of northern and southern seas — Sea elephant — 

 Sea lions — The sea leopard — The otories 128 — 141 



CHAPTER X. 



WHALES THE MONARCHS OF THE OCEAN. 



Peculiarities in whales — Distinct from fishes and land animals, 

 though resembling both — Description — Strength and utility of 

 its tail — Size of the head — Smallnes3 of the throat — Food of the 

 whole — Whalebone — Tongue of the whale — The skin — The blub- 

 ber — Quantity of oil taken from a whale — Ears, eyes, and fins of 

 the whale — Age when they attain their growth — Anecdotes rela- 

 tive to the capture — Different species — The northern rorqual — 

 The smaller rorqual — The sperm whales — The white whales — 

 The deductor — Great capture of whales — Fight between a whale 

 and a grampus — Other enemies of the whale — Anecdotes — Attach- 

 ment of whales to their young 142— 15S 



