HISTORY OF THE WHALE. 
7 
miles. Their number outruns the expression of lan- 
guage ; by the estimate of Mr. Scoresby, 80,000 men 
employed in counting from the creation, could only 
now have numbered two square miles of these ani- 
malcules. Amongst these great shoals, the right 
whale is found. He swims when feeding, with his 
moutll wide open, occasionally shutting the lower lip, 
to squeeze out the water. The small fish remain en- 
tangled in the net-work with which his mouth is fur- 
o 
nished, and are devoured. 
The sperm whale (blunt-headed cachalot) is of a 
different genus from the right whale. He is princi- 
pally distinguished by a broad blunt head, by a heavy 
bunch beyond the middle of the back, and by a single 
blow-hole on the very extremity of the head ; while 
the right whale has two blow-holes, which are placed 
five or six feet from the nose. It is provided with 
long arms, on the extremities of which is a kind of 
suckers. It is sometimes seen of an immense mag- 
nitude. 
The spermaceti whales are found in the greatest 
numbers near the Western Islands, on the coast of 
Africa, and in the Pacific ocean. While the sperm 
whale yields far less oil in quantity, it is about three 
times as valuable as common oil. The spermaceti, 
called in its crude state, head-matter, is taken from a 
cavity in the head of the whale, where it is found 
almost entirely by itself. Some of this kind yield 
115 barrels of oil. 
While the right whale roams alone, the sperm whale 
is gregarious, and a herd of two hundred is some- 
