6 INTRODUCTORY 
manufactured into small canes or whips. Horns and hoofs are also 
largely employed in the manufacture of glue. 
Formerly the so-called whalebone, or more properly baleen, 
was much used, especially to form the ribs of umbrellas and in 
stiffening ladies’ apparel, but the gradual destruction of the Right 
Whales, its only source of supply, has largely restricted its use of 
late years. 
The Cetacea are also of great economical importance from the 
abundance of oil yielded by the thick layer of blubber underlying 
the skin. Large quantities of valuable oil are also furnished by 
the Walrus and the Seals. Spermaceti, which was at one time 
extensively used in the manufacture of candles, is obtained from a 
large cavity in the head of the Sperm Whale or Cachalot, and also 
from the Hyperoddon or Bottle-nosed Whale. 
The nature of ambergris, a peculiar substance found floating on 
the surface of the sea and employed in perfumery, was long a 
matter of controversy ; but it appears to be an intestinal concretion 
of the Sperm Whale. Other substances of more importance to the 
perfumer are musk, the product of the Musk-Deer of the Himalaya, 
and civet, which is obtained from the so-called Civet Cat and other 
allied Carnivores. A secretion of the Beaver has also been used in 
perfumery and in medicine. 
