OCEAN FISH AND OCEAN FISHING 37 



a ship with its bows sliced off, the sperm has mighty 

 jaws, the lower one set with teeth, sometimes 

 weighing five pounds each, that fit into a groove at 

 the side of the palate ; while its throat is capacious 

 enough to swallow a man. 



The head looks absurdly disproportionate, being 

 one-third of the sperm's length, and appears to be 

 an encumbrance. But it is not so. The bulk of it 

 contains oil, so that it has a tendency to rise above 



MM- KM \\ II Ml'. 



the surface, and thus elevating the blow-holes, aids 

 the sperm in coming up from great depths. 1 



1 In January, 1905, it was ascertained that the break in the 

 cable between Seattle and Alaska was made by a huge whale, 

 whose jaws, when the cable was raised from the depths of 

 the Pacific Ocean, were still entangled in the wires and 

 rubber insulation. Experts declared that the whale had 

 been dead a considerable time. This is not the first time 

 that whales have been responsible for a cable breakdown, 

 but seldom is such glaring and convincing evidence of guilt 

 forthcoming. 



