442 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



WHALE MEAT READY TO BE SHIPPED TO THE MARKETS I JAPAN 



In Japan hundreds of tons of whale meat are sold in the markets of all the large towns 

 to people too poor to buy beef. The usual price is 7 or 8 cents per pound. One whale 

 yields as much meat as a herd of ioo cattle (see page 425). 



seldom gets far out of the warm cur- 

 rents, the sperm does not go into the cold 

 water, but cruises about in the tropics 

 and in the Gulf and Japan streams. 



In the upper portion of the head the 

 whale has an immense oil-tank in which 

 the valuable ''spermaceti" is found in a 

 liquid condition and from which it may 

 be dipped out with a bucket when an 

 incision has been made. Erom a sperm 

 whale 60 feet in length which was sent 

 to the Museum from Japan, 20 barrels 

 of spermaceti were taken out of the 

 "case" and the surrounding fat. This 

 oil congeals as soon as it is cooled by the 



air, but the natural heat of the body 

 keeps it in a liquid condition until the 

 case is opened. 



The sperm whale is the animal which 

 yields ambergris, the valuable substance 

 used so extensively in the manufacture 

 of our best perfumes. Ambergris is only 

 found in "sick" whales ; that is, its pres- 

 ence is not normal, but is caused by a 

 pathological condition of the intestines. 

 It has been found floating upon the 

 water, and is also taken from the intes- 

 tines themselves after the whale has died 

 or has been killed. It is used as a vehicle 

 for perfumes and not as an odor itself. 



