472 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



SPERM WHALE, OR CACHALOT 

 (Physeter macrocephalus) 



The cachalot is from 40 to 60 feet long, about 

 equaling the Greenland bowhead whale in size. 

 It has a huge blunt head, which comprises 

 about one-third of the entire animal. The 

 mouth is large ana the under jaw is provided 

 with a row of heavy teeth, consisting of ivory 

 finer in grain than that from an elephant's tusk. 



The great whaling industry of the last two 

 centuries was based mainly on the sperm and 

 the bowhead whales. The largest of the bow- 

 heads is limited to the cold northern waters, 

 but the sperm whale frequents the tropic and 

 subtropic seas around the globe. The main 

 hunting area for them lies in the South Pacific, 

 but they frequently visit more temperate coasts, 

 especially when seeking sheltered bays, where 

 their young may be born. The young are 

 suckled and guarded carefully until old enough 

 to be left to their own devices. Sperm whales 

 sometimes occur off both coasts of the United 

 States, especially off southern California. 



The feeding grounds of these whales are 

 mainly in the deepest parts of the ocean, 

 where they cruise about in irregular schools 

 containing a number of individuals. Their 

 food consists almost entirely of large octopuses 



and giant squids, which are swallowed in large 

 sections. 



As befits a gigantic mammal possessing huge 

 jaws armed with rows of fighting teeth, the 

 sperm whale is a much more pugnacious ani- 

 mal than the bowhead. There are many rec- 

 ords of whale-boats being smashed by them, 

 and several well-authenticated cases of enraged 

 bull cachalots having charged and crushed in 

 the sides of whaling ships, causing them speed- 

 ily to founder. 



The sperm whale yields oil of a better quality 

 than the bowhead. Its huge head always con- 

 tains a considerable number of barrels of spe- 

 cially fine-grade oil, which produces the sper- 

 maceti of commerce. Ambergris, having an 

 excessively high value for use in the manufac- 

 ture of certain perfumes, is a product occa- 

 sionally formed in the digestive tract of the 

 sperm whale. 



The name cachalot is one to conjure with. 

 It brings up visions of three-year voyages to 

 the famed South Seas, palm-bedecked coral 

 islands, and idyllic days with dusky islanders. 

 As in the case of the Greenland bowhead, how- 

 ever, this animal has been hunted until only a 

 small fraction of its former numbers survives 

 and the romantic days of its pursuit are gone, 

 never to return. 



THE LARGER NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS 



INDEX TO TEXT AND ILLUSTRATION PAGES 



Illus- 

 Text tration 



page. page. 



Antelope, Prong-horn 452 451 



Badger 420 419 



Hear. Alaskan Brown — (Frontispiece) 441 



Bear, Black 437 440 



Hear. Cinnamon or Black 437 440 



Bear, Glacier 437 440 



Bear, Grizzly 439 442 



Bear, Polar 435 438 



Beaver, American 441 443 



Beluga or White Whale 46S 470 



Bison, American, or Buffalo 461 463 



Bobcat or Bay Lynx 410 411 



Bowhead or Greenland Right Whale.. 469 471 



Buffalo or American Bison 461 463 



Cachalot, or Sperm Whale 472 471 



Caribou, Barren Ground 460 421 



Caribou, Woodland 460 459 



Caribou, Peary, or Barren Ground. 460 421 



Cat, Jaguarundi, or Eyra 414 415 



Coyote, Arizona or Mearns 424 423 



Coyote, Mearns or Arizona 424 423 



Coyote, Plains, or Prairie Wolf 424 423 



Deer, Arizona White-tailed 457 458 



1 K er, Black-tailed 456 455 



1 leer, Mule 453 455 



1 >eer, Virginia or White-tailed 456 458 



] >eer, White-tailed 456, 457 458 



Elk. American 453 454 



Eyra or Jaguarundi Cat 414 415 



Fisher or Pekan 444 446 



Pox, Alaska Red 41S 417 



Eox. Arctic or White 425 426 



Eox. Cross 41S 417 



Fox. Desert 420 419 



Fox. Grav 418 419 



Fox. Pribilof Blue 425 426 



Fox, Red 416 417 



Fox. Silver 418 417 



Fox. While or Arctic 425 426 



'.'on i. Rocky Mountain 452 451 



Jaguar 414 413 



Illus- 

 Text tration 

 page. page. 



Lion, Mountain 412 413 



Lynx. Bay 410 411 



Lynx. Canada 410 411 



Manati, Florida 465 467 



Moose 461 462 



Muskhog or Peccary 448 447 



Musk-ox 464 466 



Ocelots or Tiger-cats 416 415 



Opossum, Virginia 408 409 



I nter 445 446 



otter. Sea 431 434 



Peccary, Collared, or Muskhog 448 447 



Pekan or Fisher 444 446 



Raccoon 403 409 



Sea-elephant. Northern, or Elephant 



Seal 431 434 



Sea-lion. Steller 429 432 



Seal. Alaska Fur . . 429 432 



Seal. Elephant, or Sea-elephant 431 434 



Seal, Greenland, or Harp Seal 433 ' 436 



Seal. Harbor 433 436 



Seal, Harp. Saddle-back, or Greenland 433 436 



Seal, Leopard, or Harbor Seal 433 436 



Seal, Ribbon 435 438 



Seal. Saddle-back, or Harp Seal 433 436 



Sheep, Ball Mountain 449 450 



Sheep. Pocky Mountain. . 448 447 



Sheep. Stone Mountain 449 450 



Tiser-cats or Ocelots 416 415 



Walrus. Pacific 427 430 



Wapiti or American Elk 453 454 



Whale, Greenland Ris:ht or Bowhead. 469 471 



Whale. Killer 463 470 



Whale. Sperm, or Cachalot 472 471 



Whale. White or Beluga 463 470 



Wolf. Arctic White 4-2 421 



Wolf. Black 423 



Wolf. Grav or Timber 422 423 



Wolf. Prairie, or Plains Covote 424 423 



Wolf. Timber or Grav 422 423 



Wolverine 427 42S 



