The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1890-03-22
FACTS ABOUT WHALES.

FACTS ABOUT WHALES.
Loss Known> About the Largest Animal
Than About Small Insects.
OF all the modern scientists engaged in
the work Of investigation, perhaps none
have adopted field more peculiar and en-
tertaining than Prof. Frederick w. True,
OF the National Museum. Prot True Is a
young man, but he has already spent five
years Of his career as scientist In looking
up one subject-whales. r>~n
"The reason that my attention was di-
rected to this subject particularly" said
Prof. True to Washington Post reporter,
twas the fact that SO little was known to
scientific men concerning whales. The
works on zoology either treated the whale
with few generalizations or ignored it al
together. My purpose has been to cover
this field as well as it possibly can be done
with such sources of information as are
available. Ispent four months in England
and the continent Of Europe in the study Of
specimens.
"Only about eighteen species OF the fifty
six that frequent the coast of North America
are we'll known, and the majority;of these
are OF forms which have long been under
observation. The number Of species whose
habits, variations and distribution 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 approach
able animal. What is known of it's life has
been obtained at long range, and many er-
rors have thereby crept in. All the ro-
nance about thrilling adventures in the
capture Of the whale have had their day.
1t Is still regarded as q dangerous Occupa-
tion, but nothing like what it was in the
past. You will hear no more stories OF
hand harpooning and the smoking line run
nlng out over the bow, the boat towed by a
eviathan 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 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 gen.
orally harpooned afterward in order to
make 1t fast, and unless this is attempted
before the whale is dead it is not attended
with any danger"
NV hat are some Of the popular fallacies
in regard to whaless"
"ln the first place the greatest of them
all is that the whale is fish. 1t is man.
NAL with none of the characteristics of q
nsh, except that 1t exists in the water. An
animal that nurses its young, and has rudi-
mentary hind legs, could hardly correspond
TO hsh in any respect. In almost every
cut OF whale you will see the animal
spouting tremendous volume of water
from his 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 violent effort.
its nostrils are apt to be slightly under
water, and the result is column of spray
rises in the air. This has been mistaken in
the distance by sailors for column Of
water When whale had been harpooned
80 80 that its lungs had been penetrated, it ia
hkely that the whale spouted blood and
water through its nOstrils, and this has
onnrmed the original error when the sail
O's observed 1t at close range. d.
another popular error" continued Prof.
lrue, '1s that all whales furnish whale
pone. The two great classifications among
waaies are the tocthed and the whalebone
varleties. The sperm whale is toothed
WHAT'S and the right whale is whalebone
n Ihe whalehOne in a good-sized
rnaie ma ID worth several hundreds Of dollars.
sa ~ oo.neo whales really have not much
NV It tb;. .nelr teeth, as they can not chew
ow " o1ms WIN them. They are merely
ben ~ to.u.s Snat serve to grasp a fish or
~ orL !. Nisu VI prey, and hold it until it can
+ n tho uown ,o its throat. The teeth are only
ron one iower jaw. There are no molars
10 ns 1as 'ne teeth, and they can not grind
's iooq. Then the Jaw ia not hung an that
pha,aS W any thing more than snap. The
ona oDone o whale uses the fringe Of whale
-" sta;,s apound The upper jaw in lieu of teeth.
bon nsr,kes q school Of shellfish. which
,S"n uunu IN great numbers in the sea. and
Sa non ~ gets them in its mouth IL closes lts
|hala s,,."n ne water is squeezed out and the
UHo,,, ,o ".iows every thing that is left"
wa ~" large an object can a whale swal-
Ot ,ae me,t throat of the largest specimen is
ams.no .,lat three inches and half In
"T. Have any species been exterminateda"
or Ox wnat we know, it is not probable.
earaa ew years the right whale disap-
>ast My MuIaily from the North American
avid None were stranded, and there was
moo = mat any more were In exis-
ens "a "a year or two ago one or two speci-
blv r,o0 o.o seen, and now they are reason
laraa r,InIIui again. Whether they disap-
for so oecause they were pursued by man
HI ~ ne otner reason we can not estab-
er at tney totally disappeared, how
certa,s conclusive. The fact is, that when
w." K'nd OF whale becomes so scarce
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