272 The Sperm Whale and its Food 



these gentlemen remained to assist at the breaking-up of the 

 whale, with all the materials necessary for preserving the 

 interesting matter which it promised to furnish. 



For four days, under a burning sun, the whalers worked at 

 removing the blubber and transferring it to the neighbouring 

 house, where it was boiled down. At the same time they 

 endeavoured to assist me in every way in securing the portions 

 of the animal which interested me, more especially the brain. 

 But the work was so difficult that it was only at the end of the 

 fourth day that the skull was penetrated, and then the brain 

 was found in a too advanced state of decomposition to be of 

 use for preservation. It was impossible to approach the brain 

 sooner, except by sacrificing the spermaceti, of which the 

 volume was more than a cubic metre, and the commercial 

 value very great. For half a day several men stood up to 

 their middles in the cavity of the head which contains the 

 spermaceti, and ladled it out. It must be remembered that 

 the whale, which was stranded at high water, could only be 

 worked at after the tide had ebbed considerably. 



A large number of parasites were collected from the stomach, 

 the digestive organs, the blubber, and the skin of the animal. 

 M. Richard discovered on the lips of the whale certain round 

 impressions, which he identified as the marks of the suckers 

 of the great cephalopods. One can imagine the struggles of 

 the giants which take place deep under the surface of the ocean. 

 Notwithstanding his activity the cephalopod is seized by the 

 cachalot, who, by means of the formidable teeth of the lower 

 jaw, and the corresponding recesses in the upper jaw, holds 

 the body of the animal without hope of escape. The cepha- 

 lopod, in its defence, envelopes the face and head of the whale 

 with the crown of its tentacles, the suckers of which leave deep 

 impressions on its lips, and other parts where they have 

 fastened. Meantime the cachalot makes efforts to swallow the 

 portion of the cephalopod of which it has really taken possession, 

 with the effect that the part of comparatively small calibre 

 connecting the body with the head gives' way; the body is 

 swallowed, and the head dies and either drops off or is eaten 

 by the whale. 



