581 ON THE GREENLAND WHALE. 



on board the ship, and then cut into smaller pieces. 

 The fleshy parts and skin connected with the 

 blubber are next separated from it, and it is again 

 cut into such pieces as will admit of its being 

 passed into casks by the bung- hole, which is only 

 three or four inches in diameter. In these casks 

 it is conveyed home, where it is boiled in vessels 

 capable of containing from three to six tons, for 

 the purpose of extracting the oil from the ' fritters, 

 which are tendinous fibres, running in various di- 

 rections, and containing the oil, or rather connect- 

 ing together the cellular substance which contains 

 it. These fibres are finest next the skin, thinnest 

 in the middle, and coarsest near the flesh. 



The following table shews the quantity of oil a 

 whale of each size of bone will produce at a me- 

 dium : — 

 v. 



Bone in Feet. 



Oil in Tons. 



I 





2 



3 



3 



3t 



4 



4 



5 



4t 



6 



Si 



7 



7 



8 V 



9 



9 



ii 



IO 



*3 



ii 



16 



12 



20 



