A DESCRIPTION OF 
THE SPERMACETI WHALE, OR CACHALOT. 
(Physeter macrocephalus.) 
Tins animal has teeth in the lower jaw only ; and no 
whalebone. The substance called spermaceti is extracted 
from its immensely large head. This head is nearly half 
the size of the entire animal ; and the throat is so large 
that it could swallow a shark. This must therefore have 
been the Whale that swallowed the prophet Jonah, as de- 
scribed in Holy Writ. 
The quantity of oil produced from the Spermaceti 
Whale is not so considerable as that obtained from the 
common or Greenland Whale ; but in quality it is far pre- 
ferable, since it yields a bright flame, without at the same 
time exhaling any nauseous smell. The substance known 
by the name of ambergris is also derived from the body 
of this animal. It is generally found in the stomach, but 
sometimes in the intestines ; and, and in a commercial 
point of view, is a highly valuable production. The sper- 
maceti is in a fluid state while the animal is living, and as 
soon as it is dead a hole is made in the head, and the 
