122 A necdotal No tural History. 



The head is extremely large, occupying nearly a 

 third of the entire length, whence the name macro- 

 cephalus i.e., 'large-headed ' is derived. The snout 

 is abruptly squared off, and the blow-hole is placed 

 upon the fore part of the head. The jaws are not 

 provided with the baleen, or whalebone, but are 

 furnished instead with a number of formidable teeth, 

 set in the lower jaw, and fitting into corresponding 

 cavities in the upper one. The upper jaw has merely 

 a short row upon each side. 



Although to us these teeth are of no particular value, 

 they are held in the greatest esteem by certain savage 

 tribes. On more than one occasion a war has been 

 waged by one chief upon another, merely for the 

 possession of a single whale's tooth. 



The cachalot attains to a considerable size, its 

 average length being from seventy to seventy-five feet 

 in length. 



The skull, which is elongated and narrow, does not 

 occupy more than one-half of the space assigned to 

 the head, the upper portion being composed of ten- 

 dinous cells. In two great cavities in this mass is con- 

 tained the spermaceti, which is found in a fluid, oily 

 condition, and is literally baled out by means of 

 buckets, a hole being cut in the upper part of the 

 head, and the spermaceti extracted just as is water 

 from a well. 



The oil expressed from the blubber is of a very fine 

 quality, and is obtained in considerable quantities, a 

 cachalot of ordinary size yielding about one hundred 

 barrels, as well as twenty-four barrels, or thereabouts, 

 of the spermaceti. 



This whale is able to remain beneath the water for 

 a much longer period than the previously described 

 species, an hour sometimes elapsing before it is obliged 

 to return to the surface. The ' spoutings ' are from 



