OCEANIC MAMMALS 491 



records of whales taken. With this beginning an eventual 

 adjustment may be hoped for whereby a more intelligent 

 management of the industry will ensue, and a just balance be 

 maintained between the normal reproduction and the numbers 

 killed. The investigations of the Discovery, especially assigned 

 by the British Government to study all matters relating to the 

 habits and reproductive capacities of the commercial species, 

 have already provided some basis for such knowledge. 



Commercial 'products. With the substitution of gas and 

 electricity for oil in lighting requirements, and the use of 

 stainless steel for whalebone, one might suppose that the draft 

 upon the whale supply would abate. This, however, does not 

 seem to be the case. There is a large demand for the oil in 

 making the finer grades of soap, especially glycerine soaps. 

 During the World War of 1914-18, the blue whale especially 

 was in demand at the whaling stations, since it yields from its 

 blubber about 17 percent of glycerine, an important ingredient 

 of certain high explosives. According to Salvesen (1914), 

 "Whale oil is usually graded into four qualities, . . . 

 though some companies add a fifth." The two best grades, 

 Nos. O and I, are made entirety from blubber; No. II from the 

 tongues and kidney fat and from the residue of the blubber 

 boilings; No. Ill from the flesh and bones; and No. IV from 

 refuse." In 1914 the best grade brought about 24 a ton net 

 weight; No. II was worth 22 a ton; No. Ill, 20; and No. IV, 

 18 a ton. 



The baleen of the southern right whale in 1914 was said to be 

 worth only about 750 a ton; that of the finwhales very much 

 less, so that the marketing might be more costly than the value 

 received. The fresh whale meat converted into a meal is a 

 nutritious and wholesome food for cattle, with about 17.5 

 percent proteid; while guano made from the remaining flesh 

 and a third of bone is high in ammonia (8.5 percent) and 

 tribasic phosphates (about 21 percent). Bone meal, made 

 exclusively from the bones, contains about 4 percent ammonia 

 and about 50 percent of phosphates. The prices for the various 

 products are much less than formerly. 



Ambergris is a concretion found in the intestines of occa- 

 sional sperm whales and is still a desideratum among perfume 

 makers, for which no substitute has yet been found. It has the 

 peculiar property of holding delicate scents. 



