, 1889-10-31
FACTS ABOUT WHALES.
VERY LITTLE KNOWN CONCERNING
THIS LARGE ANIMAL.

by n Gentleman Who Has Made tn.
Subject His Speciality for Five Years.
Romancs of Thrilling Adventure.
or all the modern scientists engaged
in the work of investigation, perhaps
none have adopted a field more peculiar
and entertaining than Professor Fred
erick w. True, of the National museum.
Professor True is a young man, but he
has already spent five years of his career
as a scientist in looking up one subject
whales.
"Only about eighteen species of the
hfty-six that frequent the coast OF North
America are well known, and the ma
jority Of these of forms which have long
been under observation. The number Of
species whose habits, variations and dis
tribution are thoroughly understood is
still smaller. The life of the whale is
passed with but little of it being visible,
and it is not an approachable animal.
What is known of its life has been OBJ
tanned at long range, and many errors
have thereby crept in. All the romance
about thrilling adventures in the capture
of the whale have had their day. 1t is
still regarded as a dangerous occupation,
but nothing like what it was in the past.
You will hear no more stories of hand
happening and the smoking line run
ming out over the bow, the boat lowed
by a leviathfh at lightning speed, and all
those details that illuminated the old
time stories of the sea. Now whales are
killed with a bomb lance, fired as any
other projectile, at a moderately long
range. 1t carries an explosive substance
that detonates when the lance enters the
body Of the whale. That is the modern
way. The whale is generally harpooned
afterward in order to make it fast, and
unless this is attempted before the whale
is dead it is not attended with any danger.
"What are some of the popular falla-
cies in regard to whales?'
SIN the first place the greatest of them
all is that the whale is n fish. 1t is a
mammal with none of the characteristics
of a fish, except that it exists in the wa
ter. An animal that nurses its young
and has rudimentary hind legs could
hardly correspond to a fish in any re-
spect. In almost every cut of a whale
you will see the animal spouting a ire
mendous volume of water from its blow
holes. This is purely an imaginary habit
on the part of the whales. The blow
holes of the whale correspond to the
nostrils of other animals. When it comes
to the surface to breathe it expels the air
from its lungs with n violent effort. Its
nostrils are apt TO be slightly under wa
ter, and the result is, a column of spray
rises in the air. This has been mistaken
in the distance by sailors for a column of
water. When n whale had been har-
pooned SO that its lungs had been pene-
trated it is likely that the whale spouted
blood and water through its n~ostrils, and
this has confirmed the original error
when the sailors observed it at close
range.
Another popular error" continued
Professor True, sis that all whales fur
nish whalebone. The two great classif-
cations among whales are the toothed
and the whalebone varieties. The sperm
whale is a toothed whale, and the right
whale is a whalebone whale. The whale
bone in n good sized whale is worth sew
eral hundreds of dollars. The toothed
whales really have not much use for
their teeth, as they cannot chew any
thing with them. They are merely a
row Of points that serve to grasp a fish
or other kind of prey, and hold it until
it can work it down its throat. The
teeth are only on the lower jaw. There
are no molars among the teeth and they
cannot grind the food. Then the jaw is
not hung so that it can do anything more
han snap. The w~halebone whale uses
the fringe of whalebone around the up
per jaw in lieu of teeth. 1t strikes a
school of shellfish, which aboundin great
numbers in the sea, and whena it gets
them in its mouth it closes its jaws. The
water is squeezed out and the whale
swallows everything that is left"
"Haveany species been exterminated?"
"From what we know it is not prob
able. For n few years the right whale
disappeared totally from the North
American coast. None were stranded,
and there was no evidence that any more
were in existence. A year or two ago
one or two specimens were seen, and now
they are reasonably plentiful again.
Whether they disappeared because they
were pursued by man or for some other
reason we cannot establish. That they
totally disappeared, however, is conclu-
sive. The fact is, that when a certain
kind of whale becomes so scarce as to be
Ill uanSer OF eNtermlnltlOn 1t then be-
comes Improbable to chase it, and the
opportunity for a renewal of the breed
is favorable"
d they breed rapidlyY'
"One or two at n birth is the rule. The
smaller varieties generally bear twins,
and a single one at a birth is probably
the case with the greater varieties. The
infants are born pretty well able to take
care of themselves, though they are care
fully uursed by the mother until they are
swift enough to provide themselves with
food. 1t is the belief that the mother
floats on her side on the top of the water
when nursing, SO That the young can
suckle with their blowholes u of water.
Whether this is true or not lido not
know"
"Do whales ever,sleepg'
THAT is one of the many things that
we do not know. Sperm whales have
been known to lie'on the water motion.
less for n considerable period, but it car
only be guessed whether they are asleeI
or not. A whale could not sleep under