230 VERTEBRATA. MAMMALIA. 



Though common in northern seas, it is not often pur- 

 sued, the oil produced being small in quantity. It is 

 rather a handsome .creature, being white, marbled 

 with irregular dark brown spots. Its length is from 

 fifteen to twenty feet. It has no fin on the back. 



Physeter,* the Sperm-whale. 



The Cachalots, or Sperm Whales, are remarkable 

 for their enormous head, square and seemingly cut off 

 in front : the upper jaw has no teeth apparent, but 

 the lower, which is long and very narrow, is fur- 

 nished with about fifty conical teeth, which fit into 

 holes in the upper jaw when the mouth is closed. 

 The immense and singularly formed head, is hollowed 

 into large caverns, filled with a peculiar oil, which 

 on cooling becomes hard, and when refined, forms 

 the beautiful crystallized fat called Spermaceti. This 

 substance is the chief object of desire in the pursuit 

 of this strong and ferocious animal, for it produces 

 no whalebone, and very little blubber. But there is 

 another substance called ambergris, valued chiefly 

 as a perfume, which is formed within the intestines 

 of this Whale in a state of disease. 



They have a fin on the back, which, while it has 

 been compared in the High-finned Cachalot (P. 

 Tursio) to the mast of a vessel, is in the common 

 Sperm Whale (P. Macrocephalus)-\ only a callous 

 protuberance. 



From its size and strength, and from its furious 



sao, to blow. 

 o;, makros, long, and xiQaXTi, kepliale, the head. 



