340 fisheries of the united states. [70] 



Boarding-knife. 



Blade, navy cutlass with brass liilt ; handle, turned wood, with knob 

 on the end. New. Total length, 4 feet 4 inches. New Bed- 

 ford, Massachusetts, 1882. 55868. TJ. S. Fish Commission. 

 Manufactured by James Barton. Used on a whaling- vessel for 

 cutting the blubber into sections, as it is unwound from the 

 whale, in order that they may be lowered into the blubber- 

 room. 



Mincing Blubber. 

 mincing by hand. 



MlNCING-KNIFE. 



Blade, cast steel ; bach-frame, iron, slotted and riveted to blade. 

 Handles, hard wood ; ferules, steel. New. Sheath, wood, sat- 

 urated in oil. Longitudinal slot for blade of knife. Three 

 holes for rope beckets. Total length, 36 inches; length of 

 blade, 24 inches; width of blade, 3£ inches; length of sheath, 

 25 inches. New Bedford, Massachusetts, 1876. 25912. Gift 

 of E. B. & F. Macy. Used for mincing small pieces of blubber 

 (horse-pieces) in order that the oil may be more readily ex- 

 tracted when boiled. 



MlNCING-KNIFE AND SHEATH. 



Blade, cast steel; worn out in service by being repeatedly sharp- 

 ened. Sheath, wood, slotted for blade, and pierced with two 

 holes for beckets. Length of knife, 36 £ inches; length of 

 sheatli, 25£inches. Knife, 55869; sheath. 57696. New Bedford, 

 Massachusetts, 1882. Gift of Mackey & Pindar. 



MlNCING-KNIFE. 



An old mincing-knife which has seen many years of service, show- 

 ing the manner in which the width of blade has been reduced 

 by frequent applications to the grindstone. Length, 36 inches. 

 New Bedford, Massachusetts, 1882. 56849. Gift of Thomas 

 Knowles & Co. 



MlNCING-KNIFE. 



An old blubber-knife worn out in service and discarded, the blade 

 having been ground down until worthless. Handles, wood ; 

 back, iron ; blade, cast steel. Length, 37£ inches. New Bed- 

 ford, Massachusetts, 1882. 56850. Gift of Mackey & Pindar. 



mincing by machinery. 



Mincing-machine knife. 



A knife of peculiar shape used on some vessels instead of the hand- 

 mincing knife, in connection with the mincing-machine, for 



