[67] FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 337 



Cutting out Throat-bone, etc. 

 Throat-spade. 



Head, or blade, cast steel ; shank and socket, wrought iron. Shank 

 round. Pole, spruce. Total length, 15 feet. New Bedford, 

 Massachusetts, 1876. 25925. Giftof E.B.&F.Macy. A spade 

 used for cutting a passage for the head-strap, in order that the 

 head of the right whale, or bowhead whale, may be hoisted on 

 deck, and for getting out the throat-bone (baleen). This kind 

 of spade may be made with a round or fiat shank, which should 

 bend easily. 



Cutting Blubber on Deck and in the Blubber-Koom. 



Whaleman's deck-spade. 



Blade, cast steel; handle, spruce. Length, 6 feet. New Bedford, 

 Massachusetts, 1882. 57701. Gift of Thomas Knowles & Co. 

 May be used with its present handle for cutting up blubber on 

 deck when the main hatch is blocked, and with a longer handle as 

 apot-spade for " spading pots," to prevent refuse pieces adhering 

 to the sides and bottoms of the pots when trying-out oil. 



Blubber-room spade. 



Blade, cast steel ; short shank, with socket for handle. Handle, wood, 

 with cross-piece at upper end. Total length, 3 feet 11 inches. 

 Width of blade, 7£ inches. New Bedford, Massachusetts, 1876. 

 57700. U. S. Fish Commission. A wide spade used in the 

 blubber-room for reducing the blanket-pieces to horse-pieces 

 prior to rendering the oil. 



Towing the Whale. 



reeving tow-rope through the lips. 

 Thick boat-spade. 



Head, cast-steel j shank and socket, wrought iron. Pole, wood. 

 New. Nickle-plated. Length, 12 feet. Fairhaven, Massachu- 

 setts, 1882. 55810. Manufactured and presented by Luther 

 Cole. Carried in the boat, and used for makiug holes in the 

 lips of the whale for reeving the tow-rope. Formerly used for 

 stopping a running whale by severing the tendons at the junc- 

 tion of the caudal fin and body. 



Axes. 



decapitating the whale. 

 Head-axe. 



Common axe used by boatsteerers in cutting the bone when de- 

 capitating a whale. Length, 32£ inches. New Bedford, Massa- 

 chusetts, 1876. 25913. Gift of E. B. & F. Macy. Sometimes 

 used instead of the head-spade, in smooth weather. 

 2144— Bull. 27 22 



