THE SPERMACTI WHALE. 531 



the breast and eleven inches on the other parts of the body, and is therefore not so 

 abundant in proportion to the size of the animal as that which is extracted from the 

 Greenland Whale. Its superior quality, however, compensates fully for its deficiency in 

 quantity. The layer of blubber is by the whalers technically called the " blanket," 

 probably in allusion to its office in preserving the animal heat. 



The spermaceti is almost peculiar to a few species of the genus Catodon, and is ob- 

 tained as follows : 



The enormous and curiously formed head is the great receptacle of the spermaceti, 

 which lies in a liquid, oily state, in two great cavities that exist in the huge mass of 

 tendinous substance of which the head is chiefly composed. On reference to the skull 

 of the Cachalot, the reader will observe that it dips suddenly over the eyes, and then is 



SPERMACETI WHALE. Cafodoa Macrocephalus. 



greatly prolonged. This portion of the skull is termed Neptune's chair by the sailors, 

 and it is in Neptune's chair that the spermaceti is placed. When the Whale is killed 

 and towed to the ship's side, the head is cut off and affixed to tackles for the purpose 

 of supporting it in a convenient position for the extraction of this valuable substance. 

 A large hole is cut in the top of the head, and a number of sailors lower their buckets 

 into the cavity and bale out the liquid matter. 



When first exposed to the air it has a clear, oily appearence, but after it has been 

 subjected to the action of the atmosphere for a few hours, the spermaceti begins to 

 separate itself from the oil, and ifi a short time is sufficiently firm to be removed and 

 put into a different vessel. 



There is yet a considerable amount of oil mixed with the pure spermaceti, giving it 



