Feb. 34, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



179 



Natural W^mtyi* 



WHALES AND THEIR USES. 

 It sometimes happens that a novel invention, or the 

 discovery of some new material, deranges branches 

 of trade which seem at first sight quite out of reach. 

 Who, for instance, would have thought that the im- 

 provements in iron -smelting, due to Thomas and Gil- 

 christ, would have affected the manufacture of the chem- 

 ical manure known as superphosphate ? Yet such is the 

 undoubted fact. Or who could liave foreseen that the pro- 

 gressof the so-called " ammonia " process of manufacturing 

 alkali may possibly render the production of chloride of 

 lime more expensive, and may thus, reversing the effect of 

 Weldon's great invention, raise the price of every sheet 

 of paper and every yard of white calico throughout the 

 world ? 



A revolution of this kind has been brought about by 

 the manufacture of illuminating gas and by the discovery 



large specimen yielding about a ton. But it is no longer 

 required for the rods of umbrellas and parasols, and for 

 the supports of ladies' corsets steel has to a great extent 

 taken its place. 



Hence the whale-fishery, which formerly employed 

 numbers of ships and seamen from Holland, Denmark, 

 Britain, and some of the Eastern States of the American 

 Union, and which was at one time encouraged by especial 

 laws,is now dwindling away. As a result the whales which 

 were atone time so persecuted as to beonthevergeof exter- 

 mination are now increasing in numbers and re-appear- 

 ing in seas which they had entirely forsaken. This is 

 very similar to the condition of the beaver, which, since 

 silk hats came into use, has little attraction for the 

 trapper, and is now allowed to multiply in peace. 



There are, however, certain products of the whale for 

 which no substitutes have yet been found. The demand for 

 these substances is not, however, sufficiently extensive to 

 justify the dispatch of whalers for their sake, and the 

 supply has become a matter of accident and the price has 



Whales Caught on the Coast of Massachusetts, U.S. 





and utilisation of ozokerite in Galicia, ofparaffine wax in 

 Scotland, and of petroleum in the United States. Before 

 these improvements a large quantity of the oily and fatty 

 matters used in the arts were obtained from different 

 species of whales. Lamps in the streets, in stables, 

 barns, outhouses, etc., were fed with train-oil, and very 

 unpleasant was the smell. For candles, cheaper than 

 those made from beeswax, but as clean and giving an 

 equally brilliant light, we used spermaceti, yielded by the 

 so-called cachalot, or sperm whale. One of these mon- 

 sters has been known to furnish as much as thirty barrels 

 of spermaceti, in addition to one hundred barrels of 

 ordinary train-oil. Spermaceti was also used by the 

 druggist and the perfumer in making up ointments and 

 cosmetics. 



But as regards candle-making, spermaceti is now al- 

 most entirely superseded by paraffine wax. Although 

 salves and pomades are still sold under the name of 

 spermaceti, they are very largely made up of mineral 

 oils and fats, such as vaseline. 



Another product furnished of the Greenland whale — 

 the " right whale " of the fisherman — is whalebone, one 



risen. One of these substances is ambergris, a drug much 

 valued in perfumery, and formerly employed medicinally, 

 and in cookery. It is sometimes found floating on the sea, 

 but its real origin has been traced to the spermaceti 

 whale. It seems to be a morbid product — perhaps analo- 

 gous to gall stones — rather than a normal, healthy se- 

 cretion. In many sperm-whales captured it is totally 

 wanting, and is found in others only in very small quan- 

 tities. Hence, though its market value is sometimes 

 equal to that of gold, it is not worth pursuit now the 

 other products of the whale have become so much de- 

 preciated. 



There is a purpose for which a superior quality 

 whale-oil is in demand, and for which no substitute has 

 hitherto been discovered. We mean for the lubrication 

 of delicate machinery, such as clocks, watches, chrono- 

 meters, etc. A good lubricating oil, especially for such 

 uses, must possess certain properties not often found in 

 oils. It must, in the first place, contain no fatty acid in a 

 free state, lest it corrode the metal. How readily such 

 acids act upon brass and copper may easily be seen 

 by examining a candlestick made of this material. If 



