84 



MARINE MA3IMALS OF TUE NORTH-WESTERN COAST. 



ivory is not sometimes employed to remove the kraken from its slimy bed? Be 

 that as it may, however, it is our belief that all Cetaceans occasionally resort to 

 the bottom of the ocean, sea, or inland waters, as well as rise to the surface to 

 breathe and display their various attitudes. We also regard the Cachalot as able 

 to descend to a greater depth and remain there a longer time than any other 

 whale ; and that it evinces, in its characteristic movements or evolutions, a supe- 

 riority over all other cetaceous animals that have come under our observation. 



and nature of ambergris." {Phil. Trans., vol. 

 xxxiii.) 



In a paper which was read before the Royal 

 Society by Doctor Schwediawer, in 1783, re- 

 specting the medicinal properties of ambergris, 

 he remarks, that ' ' if we wish to see any medi- 

 cal effects from this substance, we must cer- 

 tainly not expect them from two or three 

 grains, but give rather as many scruples of it 

 for a dose ; though even then I should not 

 expect much from it, as I have taken of pure 

 unadulterated ambergris in powder thirty gi'ains 

 at once, without observing the least sensible 

 effect from it. A sailor, however, who had the 

 curiosity to try the effects of some recent 

 ambergris upon himself, took half an ounce of 

 it melted upon the fire, and found it a good 

 purgative, which proves that it is not quite 

 inert." {Fhil. Trans., vol. Ixxii, \>. 226.) 



In 1791, the attention of the government was 

 drawn to this subject, in order to discover if it 

 could be more frequently found. When Captain 

 Coffin was examined at the bar of the House of 

 Commons on the subject, he stated that he 

 had lately brought home three hundred and 

 sixty-two ounces, troy, of this costly substance, 

 which he had found in the anvxs of a female 

 Sperm TVhale that he had cajstured off the 

 coast of Guinea, and which he stated was very 

 bony and sickly. At the time he brought this 

 quantity to England, the ambergris was selling 

 for twenty -five shillings an ounce, but he stated 

 he sold his for nineteen shillings and sixpence 

 per ounce, to a broker, who exported it to Tur- 

 key, Germany, and France, among the natives 

 of which it appears to have been long celebrated 

 for its aphrodisiacal properties. "The use of 

 ambergris," says Braude, "in Euroj^e is now 

 nearly confined to perfumery, though it has 

 formerly been used in medicine by many emi- 

 nent physicians. In Asia and part of Africa, 



ambergris is not only used as a medicine and 

 perfume, but considerable use is also made of 

 it in cooking, by adding it to several dishes as 

 a spice. A great quantity of it is also constant- 

 ly bought by the pilgrims who travel to Mecca, 

 probably to offer it there, and make use of it 

 in fumigations, in the same manner as frankin- 

 cense is used in Catholic countries. The Turks 

 make use of it as an aj^hrodisiac. Our perfum- 

 ers add it to scented pastiles, candles, balls, 

 bottles, gloves, and hair powder ; and its essence 

 is mixed with pomatum for the face and hands, 

 either alone or united with musk, though its 

 smell is to some persons extremely offensive. 

 Ambergris may be known to be genuine by its 

 fragrant scent when a hot needle or pin is 

 thrust into it, and its melting like fat of a uni- 

 form consistence, whereas the counterfeit wUl 

 not yield such a smell, nor jDrove of such a fat 

 texture. One thing, however, is very remark- 

 able, that a resemblance to the smell of this 

 drug, which is the most agreeable of all the 

 perfumes, should be produced by a preparation 

 of one of the most odious of all substances. 

 Mr. Homberg found that a vessel in which he 

 had made a long digestion of human faeces, ac- 

 quired a very strong and perfect smell of am- 

 bergris, insomuch that any one would have 

 thought that a great C[uantity of essence of 

 ambergris had been made in it; the perfume 

 was so strong and offensive that the vessel had 

 to be removed from the laboratory! {Brande's 

 Manual of Chemistry, p. 59i.) Ambergris appears 

 to be nothing but the hardened faeces of the 

 Spermaceti "Whale, which is pretty well proved 

 from its being mixed so intimately with the 

 refuse of its food (the sciuids' beaks). Mr. 

 Enderby has a fine specimen of this substance, 

 six or seven inches long, which bears very evi- 

 dent marks of having been molded by the lower 

 portion of the rectum of the whale. 



