His CAPTORS. 115 



Sperm Whale sick. Sperm Whale wanting Physic. 



Cowper's principle in regard to animals and 

 insects is the right one : 



The sum is this : if man's convenience, health, 

 Or safety interfere, his rights and claims 

 Are paramount, and must extinguish theirs. 

 Else they are all the meanest things that are 

 As free to live, and to enjoy that life, 

 As God was free to form them at the first, 

 Who in his sovereign wisdom made them all. 



The substance called ambergris, and highly 

 prized in perfumery, is obtained from the sperm 

 whale, being, formed, it is thought, in that state 

 of the system which calls for a cathartic. A 

 peck of Morrison's or Brandreth's pills, or the 

 homeopathic dose of a pound of calomel and 

 jalap, would probably remove obstructions in 

 the creature's abdominal viscera, and prevent 

 the formation of ambergris concretions, with 

 undoubted benefit to the whale's corporation 

 from the drastic operation, though it might be 

 a loss to the perfumer and the Asiatic gastron- 

 omer, inasmuch as we learn from the Materia 

 Medica that in Asia and parts of Africa am- 

 bergris is not only used as a medicine and a 

 perfume, but considerable use also is made of 

 it in cooking, by adding it to several dishes as 

 a spice. A great quantity of it also is con- 

 stantly brought by the pilgrims who travel to 



