BLUNT-HEADED CACHALOT. 403 
lumps* from one to twenty pounds weight* and 
never above four in the same fish. These balls of 
ambergris* the purposes of which* in medicine and 
perfumes* are so well known* are not indiscrimi- 
nately found in every fish : it is only the oldest and 
strongest that yield it in any considerable quantity, 
Blunt-headed cachalot. 
This species sometimes visits the coasts of Bri- 
tain : a dead one was cast ashore near Edinburgh 
in the year 1769* which measured fifty-four feet* 
from the mouth to the tail ; and its greatest cir- 
cumference was thirty feet. 
The head of this animal is of an enormous size* 
far exceeding the proportions of the whale. The 
upper jaw projects five feet beyond the lower ; and 
its length is about fifteen feet* the other being only 
ten. Near the snout* which is quite blunt* and 
near nine feet high* is placed that orifice peculiar 
to the cetaceous order* by which they spout the 
water. The lower jaw is armed with forty-six 
teeth* all pointing outward to meet the sockets* 
where they enter into the upper. The teeth are 
about seven inches in circumference at the bottom* 
sharpening as you approach the top ; they are all 
bent* and like the teeth of the other cetaceous fishes* 
they are white* and polished like ivory. Far back* 
and towards the hind part of its monstrous head* 
are placed the eyes* which are very small in pro- 
portion to the size of the animal whose motions 
they are intended to direct. The back fin of this 
species is wanting* and in its place there is found 
a large protuberance : the two pectoral fins are 
placed hard s by the corners of the mouth* and are 
about three feet long. The penis is seven feet and 
a half ; the tail bifurcated* and fourteen feet from 
tip to tip. Such are the monstrous dimensions of 
