[17] FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 1047 



that annually bring home a large amount of oil and bone. Befineries 

 for the preparation of the oil and the manufacture of candles are located 

 at New Bedford and are about to be started at San Francisco. 



Little use is made of crude sperm oil, though half the production of 

 other kinds of whale oil is used in a crude state by cordage manufact- 

 urers. Sperm oil is refined by steaming, chilling, and pressing, and is 

 sent into the markets as " spring make natural," " spring make bleached," 

 t l natural winter," " bleached winter," and "double bleached." One of 

 the products of pressing the chilled oil is crude spermaceti, which is 

 refined and either made into candles or used in the arrs and medicine. 

 Common whale oil refining yields, besides several grades of oil, a pro- 

 portion of whale "foots," used by soap-makers and tanners, and whale 

 soap, used largely for scouring woolens. 



Ambergris is a product of the whale fishery, being found in the in- 

 testines of the sperm whale. As only sickly whales yield this article, 

 it has been considered a product of disease. When of good quality, it 

 is worth its weight in gold. It is used in the manufacture of fine x>er- 

 fumes, having the property of closely and permanently uniting the in- 

 gredients. A common practice among sperm whalers is first to strip 

 the blubber from the animal, then to open its bowels from the orifice of 

 the anus and search for ambergris. It may be found in any part of the 

 intestinal canal, but is more generally found within 6 feet of the vent. 

 Some large pieces are occasionally secured. One of the most valuable 

 finds of the last forty years was a lump weighing 130 pounds, taken by 

 the crew of the bark Adeline Gibbs, of New Bedford, in 1878. " It was 

 in one lump, except a piece of about three pounds. In shape it was 

 oval; the middle part was the diameter of a flour barrel, and in length 

 four inches short of the length of the barrel. The whole weighed, by 

 the ship's scales, 142 pounds. When sold it weighed 138 pounds, and 

 brought $23,000." 



THE FISH- OIL INDUSTRY. 



Cod-liver oil for medicinal and tanners' use is made chiefly in New 

 England. Most of it is steam-refined, and the best medicinal oil is also 

 cold pressed, being subjected to a low temperature in a refrigerator and 

 then put in bags and submitted to powerful pressure to more thoroughly 

 separate the foots or stearine. 



Menhaden oil has been discussed under the menhaden industry. 

 There is shown in the exhibit oils from many kinds of fish ; most of them 

 are used in the preparation of leathers. The oil of the candle-fish or 

 oulachon, of the Pacific coast, is used by the Indians both for food and 

 illumination. The oil of sun-fish is considered by some a good cure for 

 rheumatism. 



THE FUR INDUSTRY. 



Fur-seal skins to the number of 150,010 to 170,000 are annually pro- 

 duced by the seal fisheries controlled by the United States. The greater 



