WHALERS AND WHALING. 



whale sometimes amounting to nearly two tons in weight. The inner 

 edges are fringed with a sort of coarse hair which acts as a trap and 

 catches the tiny fish it feeds on. The creature swims along with open 

 jaws, and as the water flows through, the little fish become entangled 

 in the fringe. And here again one is struck with the whale's appar- 

 ent disregard of the fitness of things. A star fish feeds on another 

 fish so near his own size that he can hardly swallow it. A whale 

 eats a minute red shrimp not half an inch long. 



Sperm whales are armed with teeth, and have no bone in their 

 mouths, but they yield the best of oil, and are found in tropical w r aters. 

 It is in the jaws of the "right" whale that whalebone is found, and 

 they abound chiefly in Polar seas, hence the fact that the Arctic Ocean 

 is the great cruising ground today. The curious substance called am- 

 bergris which is used in the manufacture of fine perfumery, comes from 

 the intestines of diseased sperm whales, and is supposed to be the result 



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