228 DAN BEARD'S ANIMAL BOOK 



It was cold, blustering weather while I was at 

 Amagansett and the chilly winds impregnated with 

 the raw ocean spume benumbed my hands and 

 fingers. For some reason or other I had always 

 been possessed with a desire to examine 



A WHALE'S EYE AT CLOSE QUARTERS, 



but when I attempted with the aid of my 

 jack-knife to cut the- eye from its oily 

 socket my fingers became numb, and the muscles 

 holding the eye were so tough that it took me at 

 least twenty minutes to remove it from its socket. 

 The eye was about the size of a regulation baseball 

 and in the same form. I put it in alcohol and pre- 

 sented it to the museum of the Flushing High 

 School, but I am doubtful if any one takes the same 

 interest in this object as I did, and confess that to 

 the unscientifically inclined person it is an uncanny 

 object. 



On the protuberances on the top of the head at 

 the front of the jaw, called 



THE BONNET, 



I found a colony of small crabs, known 

 as whale lice, and Tapan Adney, who was 

 with me, at my urgent request, attempted 

 and succeeded in making a photograph of 

 them while they were still alive. This is 

 interesting not only to the naturalist but to all such 

 people as are fond of unique objects in photog- 

 raphy ; I think it is the only photograph ever taken 



