The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1889-11-07
LEvIATHANs OF THE DEEP.
INTERESTING AND CURIOUS FACTS
ABOUT WHALES,
The Whale Is Not Fish-Not An
Whales Furnish whaiebones-
Their Small Threats.

Their Small Threats
OF all the modern scientists engaged
in the work of investigation, perhaps
none have adopted field more peculiar
and entertaining than Professor Freder.
lex w. True, of the National Museum,
Professor True is young man, but he
has already spent five years OF his career
as scientist in looking up one subject
whales.
"The reason that my attention was di.
reoted to this subject particularly" said
Professor True to Washington Post re-
porter, "was the fact that so little was
known to scientific men concerning
whales, The works on zoology either
treated the whale with few generaliza.
tons, or ignored it altogether. My pur-
pose has been TO cover this field as well
rs it possibly can DO done with such
sources of information as are available.
spent four months in England and the
continent of Europe in the study of
specimens,
"only about eighteen species OF the
tilty-six that frequent the coast of North
America are well known, and the major
ity 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 dangerous occupation
but nothing like what it was in the past.
You will hear no more stories of hand
happening and the smoking line running
out over the bow, the boat lowed by a
leviathan at lightning speed, and all
those details that Illuminated the old
time stories of the sea. Now whales are
killed with 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 whales2"
Sin the first place the greatest of them
all is that the whale is a fish 1t is /;
mammal with none of the Characteristic!
OF fish, except that it exists in the wa
ter. An animal that nurses its young
and has udimentary hind legs, coulG
hardly correspond to fish in any re
spect. In almost every cut of whale
you will see the animal spoutiug a ire
mendous volume of water from his Blow
holes. This is purely an imaginary habi
on the part of the whales. The blow
holes of the whales correspond to the nos
trils of other animals. When it comes t.
the surface 10 breathe, it expels the al
from its lungs with violent effort. 1t
nostrils are apt to be slightly under wa
ter, and the result is column of spra,
rises in the air. This has been mistaken
in the distance by sailors for column o
water. When a whale had been har
pooned so that its lungs had been pene
trated, it is likely that the whale spoute,
blood and water through its nostrils
and this has confirmed the original er
ror when the sailors observed it at clos
range.
"Another popular error" continue,
Professor True, is that all whales fur
nish whalebone. Two great classifiea
tons among whales are the toothed an,
the whalebone varieties; The spern
whale is toothed whale, and the RICH
whale is whalebone whale Tn
whalebone in good sized whale is wort
several hundreds of dollars. TIL
toothed whales really have not much us
for their teeth, as they cannot chew any
thing with them. They are merely roy
Of points that serve to grasp fish Q
other kind Of prey, and hold ii until
can work it down its throat. The teet
are only on the lower jaw. There al
no molars among the teeth, and they Cal
not grind the food. Then the jaw is nc
hung so that it eau do anything MOI
than snap. The whalebone whale ust
the fringe of the whaebone around I'll
upper jaw in lieu OF teeth 1t strikes
school Of shellfish which abound III grei
numbers III the sea, and when its ge
: them in its mouth il closes its Jaws. TT
water is squeezed out and the whale swa
! lows everything that is left"
Chow large an object can wha
) swallow9n
"The throat of the largest specimen
not more than three inches and a half
. diameter. Jonah was very small IN,
if he made the round trip through
/ whales throat"
. "Have any species been extermiu
ted2'
From what we know, 1t is not pro-
able. For few years the right wha
disappeared totally from the Nor
American coast None were strande
1 and there was no evidence that any mo
| WcIC III cAiStcuCS. n year VI tNO ~
, one or two specimens were seen and no
, they are reasonably plentiful agai
Whether they disappeared because tn
were pursued by man or for some 9th
reason we cannot establish. That tn
totally disappeared, however, is concl
sive. The fact is, that when certa
; kind of whale becomes so scarce as
!, be in danger of determination it then b
, comes Improbable to chase it, and t
; opportunity for renewal Of the breed
favorable"
''Do they breed rapidly9'
Gone or two at birth is the rul
The smaller varieties generally be
twins, and single one at a birth
, probably the case with the greater Y
rieties. The infants are born pref
well able to take care of themselvt
though they are carefully nursed by t
mother until they are swift enough
provide themselves with food. It is t
belief that the mother floats on her 81
49, .f L.,