84 HISTORY OF THE WHALE. 



almost wholly of blubber, and the crown-bone is covered 

 with it. The oil appears to be retained in the blubber in 

 minute cells ; it is expelled when heated, four tons of blub- 

 ber generally affording three tons of oil ; and it in a great 

 measure discharges itself out of the fenks, the square 

 pieces into which it is cut, whenever putrefaction in the fib- 

 rous tissue takes place. The blubber in its fresh state is 

 without any unpleasant smell, and. hence a Greenland ship 

 is not unpleasant in high latitudes. 



The flesh of a young whale is of a red color, and when 

 cleared of fat, broiled, and seasoned with pepper and salt, 

 eats somewhat like coarse beef. That of the old whale 

 becomes blackish, and is exceedingly coarse. The tail is 

 very fibrous and sinewy, and is extensively used, particu- 

 larly in Holland, in the manufacture of glue. 



The bones are very porous, and contain large quantities 

 of fine oil ; the jaw-bones, which measure from twenty to 

 twenty-five feet, are often taken care of, principally on ac- 

 count of the oil which drains out of them. The external 

 surface of the most porous is compact and hard 5 the ribs 

 are nearly solid; the number, according to the late Sir 

 Charles Gtesecki, is thirteen pair. 



The sense of hearing in the mysticetus is probably very 

 different in air and water. A noise in the air, such as that 

 produced by persons shouting, is not noticed by it, though 

 at a distance only of a ship's length from it ; but a very 

 slight splashing in the water, in calm weather, excites its 

 attention and alarms it. 



Being somewhat lighter than the medium in which it 

 swims, the mysticetus can remain at the surface with its 

 spiracles and a considerable portion of its back above wa- 

 ter, without any effort or motion. To descend, however, 

 requires an exertion. The proportion which appears above 

 water, when alive, is probably not a twentieth part of the 

 animal ; but within a day after death, when the process of 



