The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1856-05-31
Prom the Scientific American
Sperm Whale and its Food.

Sperm Whale and its Food.
The full-grown male Sperm Whale is fror
: sixty to seventy feet long, and not far fron
40 feet in circumference in the largest part
The head IN front is nearly square, or ha
. the corners rounded off, and is much thinnc
next the lower jaw, becoming thicker 10
| wards the back, where it is almost as broao
as the back, increasing little in size M tc
the eyes, which arc located ahcnt o., .h;~.
| OF the whole lccSS.h Of the fish froi, the cx
tremc end oi the nose. The eyes are abou
twice as large as those Of an OK, and hav
lids to shut over the ball From this fact ",
may suppose it sometimes sleeps. although
never caught one SO: the lid may serve t.
protect the eye from injury. Be this as i
may, none but this species Of whale, or sucl
as breathe the atmosphere, have eyes witt
lids that can be shut
From the eye, the body enlargcs 4 little
until we come to the middle Of the fish, and
from here it tapcrs down to the tail oi
iluhes, as whalcmcn call them. The tukcs
are about ten feet across and lie horizontal
! when when in natural position.
There is a large hump on the lower part of
the back. and several small ones near the
tail. There are two small fins, one on each
/ side, Just behind and below the eve these
fins are about three feet long, and one and a
wide. think their only is to steer
with. The upper jaw is about fifteen feet
long from the socket to the extreme end or
point; the lower jaw is armed with large
teeth, which stand apart separately; there
. are from twenty to twenty five on each side.
! There are no teeth on the upper jaw in
stead Of them, cavities are provided, into
which the lower teeth ft The tongue is
small, about two and half feet long by one
wide. The throat is small. and the fish
! could not swallow a man: therefore il was
not a sperm whale that swallowed Jonah.
! When feeding and not disturbed. tie fish
/ will stay down under water from one hour to
/ one and quarter. 1t then has to come I'D
to the surface to breathe or spout and it
VIII stay up from ten to fifteen minutes In
this time 1t will spout or breathe from fifty to
sixty times. 1t throws out no water when
it spoutE, as has been represented by some.
vt the end of this time it turns fiukes,n or
pitches and dives down.
The whale fcois entirely on the "squd, -
I or cuttlc-fsh, as | believe they are some
/ times called. The "squid, think, lives by
suction; it has no bones in itS body, strictly
so called; it has a kind Of bill, short and
thick in form, something like horn o.. turtle
! shell in texture and color. II has two thin
/ pieces Of skin on each side, one at each end
or nearly so, and when small can fly a sh ,rt
distance, oTsthe same principle as the fly
ing-tish, or squirrel, by impetus, always
rising against the wind 1t has long arms or
ti5ers that extend forward from the fore
part Of the body, with which it embraces
and holds whatever is intended as food -
/ Tney grow to a very large size, and so
! strong as TO drown a man by embracing
. | U-.s told Il 1a,..Tr y, la, .,
/ a native of the Sandwich Islands while | vas
=, there. | have frequently seen large pieces
! Of squ;d floating on the water, perhaps killed
by the sperm whale. ! saw u piece once.
while sailing, which Judged to be ten feet
IN diameter. | have taken them from the
whales stomach, whole, from two to three
feet in length.
The squid is active, and when pursued by
an enemy, can clect an inky fluid that WI
cover the water for some distance round
and thus escape sometimes from his encIny.
| have said that supposed the squd lived
by suction; this | shall prove by analogy
As before stated, the squid has no teeth,
and Of course cannot chew its bill is to hold
fast with. On good whale ground, if We
take piece of smooth pearl shell. il will
shine brightly; let it be three or four inches
long and one inch wide to this lash three
fish hooks at the lower end Of the shell,
back ia back, so as 10 have the points out
ward have a long line attached 70 the up
per end of the shell, with small sinker-
On some still night lower the hooks by the
line into the ocean, and as it lowers. jerk it
up and down. and continue to lower it until
you feel somsthiEg on the hooks thus you
may at almost any time hook up sluid.-
Seeing something bright or shiny, they i'm
Il ,l,.,., 4
will be hauled up.
Now comes the question, how does the
whale catch the squ!d, who is nimble and on
the lookout? | think it is done as follows
The whale goes down to such depths,
taught him by law of nature, where lives
the squid which was created for his subsist.
ence. The jaw of the whale, when not dis
turbed, hangs down. | suppose from its
great weight, and SO his mouth is open.-
Displaying those large white glisteninc
teeth, and sides Of the jaw also white and
shining, the squid no sooner sees them than
be darts on to the jaw and teeth and so be-
comes an easy prey. If this were not so,
how could the whale, large and clumsy as he
is, ever find his prey? With his eye where
! have described il, he would be likely to go
by it and round it, or see it .nd lose sight of
il. Does any one suppose the squd would
lie still, hoping that the next time the whale
came round he would be SO lucky as to take
and dcvour him | believe not.
The female whale is much smaller than
the male when full grown she is from
twenty to twenty-five feet long, and rescm
blcs the male in general appearance. She
has never more than two young ones at
time, and seldom more than one. She lies
on her side to suckle them, and has only two
teats, situated near the lower part of the
belly, little on each side, in Sits or creascs
that cover them. The calf puts his nose in
to one of those Sits to suck, and so the wa
ter is excluded. The whale is warm blood
ed CHARLES f. BRowY.
Warren, r. |.
The writer of the foregoing article is a
well known sea captain, and moreover, an
inventor of much ingenuity. lie relates his
account Of the sperm whale from his own
observation while among them in the Pacific
Ocean. His statement, therefore, may be
looked upon as correct, besides being OF
much interest to the reader.
The NEGRO AND TIE NEEpLE.--lt is not
generally known that in the early progress
of the needle manufacture we are indebted
to the Negro The earliest record Of needle
making in this country is in the year 1915,
in the reign of Henry VIII, and it is sup
posed that this useful branch of Industry
was introduced by a Noor from Spain. The
historian Stow tellsus that needles were sold
in Cheapside, and other busy streets in Lon
don in the reign of Queen Mary, and were at
that time made by Spanish negro, who re-
fused to discover the secret of his art. Ano-
ther authority states that the art of making