BELMULLET WHALING STATION. 137 
remain submerged while feeding.? A very rapid ascent would be 
exceedingly advantageous after a prolonged immersion, and the more 
rapid the ascent which could be made the longer the immersion could 
be continued. In order to be able to ascend as speedily as possible, 
it would be of the greatest advantage to possess a large mass of some 
material, having a lower specific gravity than that of water, which 
would act as a float, and such a material spermaceti is. Moreover, 
as the mass of the spermaceti is placed in the head, and as it is of 
enormous size, even compared with the great mass of a Sperm Whale, 
the animal will always ascend head first, and probably nearly verti- 
cally, with the result that the first portion of the body to come 
above the surface will be the upper edge of the snout, the precise 
situation of the spiracle. It would appear, if this suggestion be 
correct, that in order to descend and to maintain a submerged con- 
dition, muscular exertion is necessary, whereas ascent is automatic, 
and is merely accelerated by swimming movements. These two 
points are in keeping with the habits of the whale as indicated above. 
Tt is possible that the astounding feat which has been credited to 
Physeter, that of hurling itself bodily out of the water, is really the 
result of a hurried ascent from a considerable depth, which has been 
so rapid that the animal has shot out of the water on reaching the 
surface. 
V.—Food of Different Species of Whale. 
The stomachs of all the species of Mystacocetes examined con- 
tained the remains of Meganyctiphanes norvegica (M. Sars), some- 
times in immense quantities. Nothing else was ever seen, except 
some fragments of flesh on one occasion, but there can be little doubt 
that these had been driven into the stomach by the explosion of the 
harpoon. No fish of any sort were seen in the stomachs of any of 
these whales.® 
The stomachs of the Sperm Whales invariably contained large 
quantities of cuttlefish beaks, which might be readily divided into 
large and small sizes, but, apart from size, there was nothing to 
differentiate the two series of beaks (fig. 1). A practically complete 
specimen of one of the molluscs was found in the stomach of No. 22 
(the fourth Sperm Whale). The following measurements were taken 
on this animal :— 
Ft. in. 
Meneth ofthe mantle! rs os.) 6 8 st a mt oe 2 2 6- 0 
Circumference of mantle. . . . . . . . . 4 #0 
Length of the eight shortarms . . . . . . . 6 O 
“ qed HOME ClES fet 0 et ee tLe rt oer Made Olt 1 O 
Length of tail . ‘ : ‘ ‘ q ‘ 3 5 ‘ Ae 7 
Wadthrobesudalifinn. 5° sss ae ace ee: ee ol LOE 
iDiameter/of largest. sucker’ =. 1.) 5 NS eR Oe 
In addition to this specimen, we saw fragments of others of 
approximately the same size. The following specimens were pre- 
served: tip of tentacle, beak and radula in liquid, and a quantity of 
beaks and part of an internal shell in the dry state. An examination 
" Vide Burfleld, op. cit., p. 155 * Vide Burfield, op. cit., p. 178. 
