The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1857-01-14
The Sperm Whalo and its Food.

er jaw, becoming thicker towards the
back, where it is almost as broad as the
back, increasing little in size up to the
eyes, which are located about one.third
Of the whole length of the fish from the
extreme end Of tho nAse. The eyes are
about twice ns large as those of an OK,
and have lids to shut ovor'the ball From
this fact we may suppose it sometimes
slecps, although l never caught one so
the lid may serve TO protect the oye
from injury BE this as it may, none but
this species Of whale, or such as breathe
the atmosphere, have eyes with lids that
can be shut
From the eye the body enlarges lit.
tie, until we come to the middle of the
ti-h, aud from here it tapers down 30 the
tail or iukos, as whalemcn call them,--
The tluEes are about ten feet across, and
lie horizontal when IN natural position.
There is large hump on the lower
part Of the blcl, and several small ones
near the tail There are two small fms,
one on each side. just behind and below
the eye; these fins arc about three feet
long. aud ope and half wide think
their only use is to steer with. The up
per 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 10 twenty five on each side.
There are 10 teeth on the upper jaw in
stead Of them, cavities are provided, iu-
to which the lover teeth fit. The tongue
is small, about two and half feet long
by one wide. The throat IS small and
the fish could not swallow man there.
fore it was not sperm whale that swal
lowed Jonah
When feeding and not disturbed. the
ish vii stay down under water from one
hour to ono aud quarter. 1t then has
to come up to the surface to breathe or
spout. and it Will stay up from ten to
fifteen minutes In this time it will
spout or breathe from ifty to sixty times
1t throws out no water when it spouts,as
has been represented by some. at the
eud Of this time it turns hukes," or
pitches aud dives down.
This whale feed entirely on the"squid,"
or cuttlo.lish, as | believe they are some
times called The "squid," think, lives
Is suction it has no bones in its body,
strictly to called it has kind Of BILL
short and thick in form-something like
a horn or turtle she'll in texture and col.
or. 1t has two thin pieces Of skin on
each side, orc at each eud, or nearly So
aud when small can ily short distance.
On the same principle as the flying fish
or squirrel. by impetus. always rising a
gaiust the wind 1t has long arms or
filters that extend forward from the fore
part Of the body, with which it en4bra
ces and holds whatever is intended as
food. They grow to very largo Size
and SO strong as to drown man By en-
braces him. This | was told did actual
" happen to a native Of the Sandwich
Islands while | was there. | have fire.
quently seen large pieces Of squid float
irg on tie water, perhaps killed by the
Sperm whale | saw piece, while sail
il 2, which judged to be ten feet iu
diameter | have taken them from the
whales stomach, whole, from two to three
feet in length.
The squid is active, aud when Iursu-
ed by an enemy, can eject any inky fluid
that will cover the water for some dis
tance round, and thus escapes sometimes
from bis enemy
have said that | supposed the squii
liye6 by suction; this | shall prove by
analogy. As before stated, the squid
has no teeth, ard of course cannot chew;
its bill is to hold fast with. On good
whale ground, if We take a piece Of
smooth pearl she'll, it will shine bright.
ly; let it be three or four inches long
aud one inch wide; to this la;h three
fish hooks, at the lower end If the she'll,
back to back, SO as 10 have the points
outward have long line attached to
tho upper end Of the she'll with small
sjukar. Ga some still night lower the
hoLks by the line into the ocean. and as
it loweis, jerk it up aud dowr, aud
continue to lower it until you feel some
thing on the huvks THUS you may at
almost any time hook up squid. Seeing
something bright or shiny, they immed-
lately dart to it and embrace it, aud SO
viii be hauled uP.
Now comes the question how docs the
whale catch the sqnid, who is uimble and
on thclookout2 i think it is done as
follows:-The whale goes dorm to such
depths, taught him by a law oi nature;
where lives the squid "hich was created
for lis subsistence, The jaw Of the
whale, when not disturbed, hangs down
| suppose from its great weight, and SO
his mouth is open. DisT laying those
large " hite glistening teeth, aud SIDES
Of the jaw also white aud shining. the
sauid no sooner sees them than he darts
on to the Jaw md teeth aud 50 becomes
an easy prey If this were not so, how
could the whale, large aud clumsy as he
is, ever find his prey2 With his eye
where have described it, he would be
likely to go by it, and around it,
and lose sight of il, Does any one
suppose the sqaid would lie still, hop
ing that the next time the whale came
round he would be so lucky as to take
and devour him2 believe not,
The female whale is much smaller than
tho male; when full grown she is from