THE SPERM WHALE OR CACHALOT 



In colour, the upper parts of this whale are black or greyish black, 

 the under parts much lighter and greyer. 



The blubber of the Cachalot, as the Sperm Whale is frequently 

 called, furnishes the valuable sperm oil of commerce, and the great 

 reservoir in the head or ' case,' contains the spermaceti. The latter is a 

 clear oily liquid v^^hich can be bailed out while warm, but afterwards 

 hardens to a white waxy substance. 



Another valuable product of this animal is Ambergris, a secretion 

 found ■ in its stomach or sometimes floating in the water. Mr. W. G. 

 Burn Murdoch [Modern Whaling and ^ear Hunting, p. 314) describes 

 it as "a solid fatty substance of a marbled grey-and-black appearance, 

 and generally contains the beaks of cuttle-fish, which form the principal 

 food of the Cachalot or Sperm Whale. When fresh it has an intolerable 

 smell, but after exposure this goes and leaves what some people call a 

 * peculiar sweet earthy odour.' " 



Ambergris is used as a basis in the manufacture of perfumes and 

 brings a great price, as much as twenty-five shillings an ounce. 



The Sperm Whale has a wide distribution throughout the warmer 

 waters of the world, inhabiting the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans 

 and travelling in large bands or ' schools.' 



From time to time it gets stranded on the coasts of the British 

 Islands. 



One of the earliest recorded is that by Sir Thomas Browne, who 

 mentions a * spermaceti whale ' stranded at Hunstanton, Norfolk, early in 

 the seventeenth century. An earlier record, which seems to refer to this 

 species, may be found in Sir R. Baker's Chronicle, published in 1650. 

 In this the statement is made that " In her seventeenth year [Queen 

 Elizabeth' Sy 1575) a vast mighty whale was cast upon the Isle of Thanet 

 in Kent twenty ells long, and thirteen foot broad fi-om the belly to the 



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