FISH OR FLESH 327 



a sieve to strain the water off, and allow only the food 

 to be swallowed. This gate is arranged in such a way 

 that it lifts up like a drawbridge when the mouth opens, 

 and closes at the exact moment when it is needed. 

 You can well imagine that any substance at once strong 

 and yet pliable enough to close inside a Whale's mouth, 

 must be very durable and flexible. 



" This whalebone, made into strips, is used as the 

 foundation for many articles, chief among them being 

 the best driving whips and the ' bones ' for corsets and 

 dress waists. But the real whalebone is growing rarer 



Finback Whale. 



and more costly each year. The Arctic Bowhead yields 

 the finest, longest baleen, as the Wise Men call this 

 whalebone. The Finback Whale, such as you see in 

 the pictui'e, also grows baleen, but it is of a poorer sort." 



" Why are they digging a hole in this Whale with a 

 shovel ? " asked Dodo. 



" That is the old-fashioned blubber shovel with which 

 they used to cut the blocks of solid blubber from the 

 Whale, just as you have seen turf cut, in order that the 

 fat may be boiled down to extract the oil." 



" I wish you would tell us all the ways of catching 

 Whales, and all the places they live," said Nat. 



