OEDER VI. THE CETACEA. 2.>( 



Genus Cachalot. A great Iicad, witli teeth in tlie lower jaw, and rudi- 

 niental teeth above, and a single spiracle, arc tlie general characters of this 

 gnnii). Altliough tliere arc undoulitcdly several species of this remarkable 

 animal, only one has been positively determined and described. 



C. J/"crnre})//ah(s. — Tlio Spcrniaceti Whale. This is one of thclargest 

 and most powerful of the cetacean family. It is from seventy to eighty feet 

 in length, the head forming al)out one third of the whole body. The pec- 

 torals are small and obtuse, and far down the back is a small dorsal protuber- 

 ance, sometimes two or three smaller ones. The tail is very large, and of 

 prodigious strength. The color above is blackish and somewhat greenish- 

 grav ; below it is -whitish, and also round the eyes. In the nppcr part of 

 the head is an iuunense cavity, divided into cells, filled witli oil, which, when 

 the animal is alive, is in a fluid state; but when the whale is dead, it be- 

 comes ncarlv as hard as beef tallow, and is the article with which all are 

 familiar under the name of .y)priiii(rc/i. Ambergris is found in the intes- 

 tines and rectum, and is sup[)osed to be the hardened ficces of old males — 

 a most singular circumstance, truly, when it is considered that the article is 

 used almost entirelv as a j)crfiune among civilized nations. The blubber on 

 the brea.st is about fourteen inches thick, and on most other parts of the body 

 from eight to elc\cn. It is of a yellowish color, and, when melted down, 

 yields the sperm oil. The throat, wliich, in the Greenland whale, will 

 scarcelv permit the entrance of two fingers, is, in this species, capacious 

 enough to give passage to the body of a man. It is, after the great rorqual, 

 the swiftest swinmier of tlie tribe, sweeping along at the I'ate of ten or twelve 

 miles an hour ; but ordinarily it moves at the rate of about three or four 

 miles. 



The food of the sperm whale is a molluscous animal, called squid by the 

 sailors, and, when near shore, a fish of the size of a moderate salmon, 

 which aljounds in the bays and creeks. Its mode of securing its prey is curi- 

 ous. When it desires to feed, it descends to a certain depth, and, remaining 

 as quiet as possible, opens its enormous mouth, allowing the lower jaw to 

 luuv diiwn perpendicularly. Tiic internal parts and the teeth, being of a 

 white, glistening color, attract its prey, and when a sufficient quantity is 

 gathered within the mouth, the jaw closes, and the precious morsels arc 

 swallowed, when down goes the treacherous jaw again, and the operation is 

 continued till the appetite of the monster is satisfied. 



This species is gregarious, and the herds arc of two kinds, the one consist- 

 ing of females, and the other of young and not fully-grown males, which 

 again arc divided into groups, according to their ages. These herds are 

 called "schools," and often consist of many hundreds. Several large males 

 always accompany each herd of females, which are extremely jealous of 

 KO. VII. 33 



