Cetacea. MAMMALIA. Balasnid.®. 1 97 
six hundred and fifty vessels, tonnage two hundred 
thousand tons, and manned by seventeen thousand five 
hundred men. In 1848 the number was slightly under 
this estimate, though including one-tenth of the entire 
shipping of the United States. The social importance 
of this fisliery wdll be at once appreciated, when it is 
stated that, about twenty years ago, it was estimated 
that as many as seventy thousand persons in the United 
States derived their chief employment and subsistence, 
in one way or another, from the whale fisheries ; and 
the number so deeply interested in them must be even 
greater at present. Other countries, besides Britain 
and America, have but a small share of these profits : 
some sixty or seventy vessels from French, German, 
and Danish ports, make up the number of whalers. It 
must not be forgotten, however, that the indefatigable 
Hollanders had at one time a lion’s share of the whole 
fishery to themselves — as long ago as 1680, there were 
fully two hundred and sixty ships, and fourteen thou- 
sand Dutchmen employed in the trade — nor that the 
first professional whalemen and original harpooners 
were Biscayans.” 
We have thus diverted somewhat from the im- 
mediate subject-matter of our description, in order 
to convey some adequate idea of the immense 
quantities of oil yielded by the Cetacea, which, in pro- 
portion to the blubber itself, is as three to four. Most 
of the oil is derived from this source, but it should 
also be mentioned that the cellular tissue of the tongue 
and the interior of the large bones, especially those of 
the lower jaw, likewise contain a large quantity of oil. 
The fatty matter termed spermaceti, which is found 
only in a particular group of whales, is derived chiefly 
from the head of these animals. According to John 
Hunter, “ the purest spermaceti is in the smallest and 
least ligamentous cells; it lies above the nostril, all along 
the upper part of the head, immediately under the skin 
and adipose membrane. These cells resemble those 
which contain the common fat in the other parts of the 
body nearest the skin. That which lies above the roof 
of the mouth, or between it and the nostril, is more 
intermixed with a ligamentous cellular membrane, and 
lies in chambers whose partitions are perpendicular. 
These chambers are smaller the nearer to the nose, 
becoming larger and larger towards the back part of the 
head, where flie spermaceti is more pure. This sper- 
maceti when extracted cold, had a good deal the 
appearance of the internal structure of a water melon, 
and is found in rather solid lumps.” Chemically speak- 
ing, it closely resembles the substance termed choles- 
terine, and like it, after being melted, concretes into 
thin crystalline laminae of a silvery hue and peculiar 
greasy feel. In addition to these matters there is yet 
another substance found in the intestines of Cetacea, 
which, though not much sought after, is nevertheless 
of considerable value. This is ambergris. It is a 
concretionary formation, of a mottled, greyish colour ; 
and when split open, it is found to contain a large num- 
ber of the horny beak-like processes of cuttle-fishes, 
derived from the cephalopodous molluscs, on which the 
spermaceti whales delight to feed. It has a peculiar 
strong, diffusible odour, and when pure is soft and 
waxy on section ; chemically speaking, it consists of a 
fatty substance or principle termed ambreine. Amber- 
gris is used to impart an agreeable flavour to certain 
wines, and one or tw’O grains, mixed and triturated with 
sugar, is sufficient to flavour a hogshead of claret. 
The special organs of sense in Cetacea are constructed 
on the same plan as those of terrestrial quadrupeds, 
but, nevertheless, exhibit several peculiarities adapted 
to their aquatic habits. These are particularly notice- 
able in the organs of hearing and vision. Externally 
there is no auricular appendage, and the meatus audi- 
torius is only represented by a very small aperture, 
scarcely large enough to admit the introduction of a 
small crow-quill. Internally, the essential part of 
the auditory apparatus, including the ossicles, are 
invested by an osseous framework distinct from the 
ordinary bones of the cranium which inclose the 
organs of hearing in other Mammalia. The osseous 
capsule consists of two distinct portions inclosing the 
labyrinth and tympanum. The tympanic bone is 
particularly hard, and very largely developed, having 
commonly a more or less kidney-shaped outline. This 
part is usually called the ear-bone, and owing to its 
density and power of resisting decay and disintegi'ation, 
we find it very perfectly preserved in the tertiary 
marine deposits along the Suffolk coast, where multi- 
tudes of them are found associated with other rvater- 
w’orn osseous fragments in the phosphatic pseudo- 
coprolitic beds. Some specimens in our possession, 
evidently belonging to a species of porpoise, are very 
highly silicified, the petrous or labyrinthic bone remain- 
ing in situ, and displaying very clearly the spiral 
groove of the cochlea and the semicircular canals. As 
to the capacity of hearing enjoyed by Cetacea, much 
difference of opinion exists — the excellent authority, 
Scoresby, averring that they are not roused even by 
the report of a cannon; whilst others, who have also 
been engaged in whale-fishery exi)edilions, state that 
their powers both of hearing and vision are sufficiently 
acute to render the approach of the harpooners at all 
times difficult and sometimes unsuccessful. The eye 
is chiefly remarkable for the great thickness of its 
external or sclerotic coat, an arrangement calculated to 
maintain in its integrity the ellipsoid form of the crys- 
talline lens and vitreous humour, which would otherwise 
yield to the pressure of the aqueous medium in which 
the animal swims. Ordinary whales have no true 
lachrymal glands, but tliese organs are present in the 
herbivorous cetacea, which latter are also furnished 
with a third eyelid or nictitating membrane. The brain 
of all the Cetacea is well formed, and provided with 
numerous convolutions. Though of large size in itself, 
it is remarkably small as compared with the bulk of the 
body, representing by weight in the common mysticete 
only the one three-thousandth part of the entire ani- 
mal. The cerebellum is comparatively bulky ; whilst, 
of the nerves wdiich proceed from the base of the 
brain, the most remarkable are those which pass to the 
organ of hearing — their conspicuity being especially 
manifested in the dolphins. 
