THE SPERM WHALE. 593 
The cachelot or sperm-whale (Fig. 515) has an enormous 
head, one third the length of the body, the upper jaw being 
toothless. It is without the power of smell. It grows to 
the length of sixty feet. Above the nasal, frontal, and 
maxillary bones are cavities filled with a fatty fluid called 
spermaceti, used in the manufacture of candles, ointments, 
and cosmetics, such as cold cream. A large sperm-whale 
will yield 2500 kilograms of this substance. Another 
valuable substance is améergris, a morbid product, the result 
of injury to the intestine by the beaks of cuttle-fishes, upon 
which animals the toothed whales largely prey. It is a kind 
of bezoar or gall-stone, fatty, aromatic, burning with a clear 
flame. It is composed of benzoic acid, united with chlorine, 
of a balsamic substance, and ambrein. It is used in making 
perfumes. Lumps are occasionally thrown ashore, and it is 
worth about five dollars an ounce. 
Fig, 515,—Outline of the cachelot, showing how the blubber is removed; 3, the 
situation of the “case”; ¢, the junk; d, the bunch of the neck ; 2, the hump ; 4, the 
ridge; k, the small; f, the tail or flukes; between the oblique dotted iines are the 
spiral strips or blanket pieces.—After Beale, from Gill. 
But the chief use of whales is the oil extracted from the 
fat enveloping the body, ealled blubber by whalers. The 
most valuable of the whales is the Greenland whale, as it 
contains the most oil, individuals having been known to 
yield nearly three hundred barrels. 
