THE CACHALOT. 301 



None of this tribe are so large as the whale, and of 

 course do not yield such a quantity of oil ; the head 

 is so disproportioned to the body, that it is allowed to 

 measure half the size : the tongue of the animal is rather 

 small; but the throat is of so formidable an extent, that 

 it is believed to be capable of swallowing an ox ; and its 

 appetite is at once so keen and voracious, that it will de- 

 vour a shoal of fishes at a time. Linnseus tells us that 

 porpoises and dolphins have frequently been driven 

 upon the neighbouring shore when pursued by this de- 

 vouring monster, which may properly be termed the 

 tyrant of the deep. 



Though the cachalot is formidable to the inhabitants 

 of that element where Nature destined it to reside, yet 

 mankind consider it as a valuable animal for the excel- 

 lent drugs it is known to contain. Spermaceti, that 

 useful commodity, is found in the head of the cachalot, 

 and is no other than the brain of this curious fish ; for, 

 upon the outward skin of the head being removed, a 

 covering of fat is presented about three inches thick, 

 under which, instead of a bony substance, there only 

 appears a second skin, which serves as a covering and 

 defence to the brain. In the first cavity or chamber, 

 the finest spermaceti is allowed to be found ; and there 

 is generally enough to fill seven barrels of the best and 

 most valuable kind ; below this cavity there is another, 

 the contents of which sells for an inferior price ; and by 

 a simple process, which, within a few years, has been' 

 discovered, every part of the fat may be converted into 

 this drua:. 



Ambergris, which is frequently found in this animal, 

 was long considered as a substance that only floated upon 

 the sea ; it is contained in a bag about three feet in length, 

 in round lumps, which weigh from one to twenty pounds. 



