MAMMALIA 



279 



It was first obtained from whales that were stranded upon the shore, 

 then from whales that were hunted at sea. The Norwegian whale- 

 hunters are said to have landed on Newfoundland before the discovery 



FIG. 185. Photograph of finback whale, Balaenoptera physalus, taken at 

 Provincetown, Mass. (From True, The Whalebone Whales of the Western North 

 Atlantic.) 



of America by Columbus, though this statement may not be true. The 

 height of the sperm oil business was reached about 1846, when in the 



PIG. 1 86. A whale steamer. (After Rabot, The Whale Fisheries of the World.) 



United States, more than 700 vessels and 40,000 people were engaged 

 in the collection of 12,000,000 gallons of oil per year, valued at 

 $8,000,000; whalebone was also collected. 



