The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-10-30
PECULIAR ORIGIN
OF AMBERGRIS
Some Very Curious Facts Concerning
This Valuable Substance.
AN ANOMALY IN NATURAL HISTORY
Supposed to BE the Result of n Dis.
ease in Whales Corresponding to
Append icitis..Capturc of One Am.
bergris Whale Whose Product Sold
for 100000.
From the Boston transcript,

From the Boston Transcript.
Three spermaceti whales were COM
panionably floating about in Southern
waters one sunshiny day not so very
many years ago. Two We're fine speci
mems of the genus physeter; the third,
however, though of the same species
was lank and scrawny, and lolled list
lessly on the dark blue surface of the
Gulf stream, while its more rotund and
sportive comrades Slashed about vigor-
ously, and sent the limpid waters far
ABOVE them to fall in refreshing sprays.
III was mystery why any whale at
that season should have presented an
iN-ted condition, as the feeding grounds
had been unusually well populated by
the tentaculated and foul-mouthed cut
tie fish, Sepia octopodia, and no whale
had need to go single day with an
empty stomach. Perhaps if the two
weil-conditioned animals had been less
frolicsome. and the third more aroused,
they would have been on the alert for
defence. AS it was, a long. narrow
boat, pointed at both ends. bore down
unobserNed upon them, and the whale
men sent with unerring aim their weap-
ons straight into the two bulky crea-
lures. The scrawny whale escaped.
shou@h ~ iiituc iiO iIltlioIl " Sct
but because it was evident there would
be but little, If any, oil or spermaceti
in the animal, and because the capture
of the two splendid specimens had been.
more than was expected. ii was left
unmolested, still rocking lazily in the
sea.
Next day. to the amaZement of the
whalmen, the animal was seen in al
most exactly the same spot, as though
inviting death.
We'll" called out the captain of the
whaling fleet, who had been one of the
party the day before. 'if you wish to
die you poor, crazy lubber you shall"
and forthwith 1t, too, was disposed of.
the easiest task, the men agreed that
they had had in many a day. But little
more than two barrels of oil We're found
i'm the emaciated whale. Another and
vastly more important discovery was
the largest single lot of ambergris ever
sold in this country. 1t was exchanged
for check signed by Il well-known
drug firm of this city. whose figures
rounded close onto 100000! Never had
so large a check been seen till then in
the little Cape Cod fishing town where
it was divided among the whalemen of
the fleet, as each man on Whaler re-
ceives certain percentage of the pro-
ceedS of a voyage. The number of
pounds found aggregated over $50,
valued at $50 per ounce, the price paid
for the best ambergris.
OLDEN DELUSIONS.
1t would seem that the animal had
sickened of a malady caused by the
unnatural growth, and such was un-
doubtedly the case, and, if its Sufferings
had not been brought to an end by the
hall ha,. lin ral
the disease itself had finally caused
death. Such profound mystery has
surrounded this strange subject, and
so many fallacies have been written in
regard to it, that some of the later en-
cyclopedas have-perhaps wisely-left
il untouched, or, if treating it at all,
have ventured on but the barest gener-
alities, for trustworthy facts relating
to this most interesting and singular
product are few and far between.
We need touch but lightly on the his
tory of ambergris, though the delusions
that We're primitively jndulged in are
extremely fascinating. In the Arabian
Nights" we are told of Eastern beauties
whose chesks We're marked with moles
like bits of ambergris; and in the story
of the sixth voyage of "Sinbad the
Sailor" we read in the description of
the place where the royagers We're
wrecked: "Hcre is also a fountain of
pitch and bitumen that runs into the
sea. which the fishes swallow, and then
vomit up again turned into ambergris!'
That antique author, Robert Boyle,
considered it to be of vegetable produce
tion and similar to yellow amber; thus
it received his name. ambergriS (gray),
gray amber. This ana other even more
plausible theories are but indeed fall
lacies that puzzled savants have set
forth when they were at a loss to ac-
count for its origin. 1t is now asccr-
tanned beyond a doubt to be generated
by the large headed sperm whale, and
is the result of the diseased state of the
animal. The victim of this rare malady
may possibly, in extremely rare cases
(but of this we are not convinced by ac-
tual knowledge), throw off the more
morbiiic substance, or finally die of the
ailment The disease is located in the
intestinal canal. and some saVants sup
pose it to be caused by hillary irrita-
tion. After a deep study on the subject
several modern scientists have agreed
that the disorder is akin to the new
fashionable human peril, appendicitis.
intensified and prolonged III TINS great
mammal.
CAUSE OF THE DISEASE.
If is known that the ambergris whale
feeds upon, the cuttlefish. This crea-
ture is armed upon its head with Il
sharp pointed, curved black horn, re-
scmbling Il birds beak, much like that
of a parrot, only the lower mandihle Is
the largest. This found-aS it is too
indestructable to be digested-in many
specimens of ambergris. and may often
times aid in establishing seated di-
sease. 1t may be considered, though,
to be but the primary cause of irrita-
ton, as much of the finest ambergris
is entirely free from the tough little
horn. Such is the effect in the whale
of the magnified-and tremendously
magnified-ilness which when estab-
lished in our own comparatively puny
organization causes a fatal collapse.
unless quickly and heroically attacked
by the almost miraculous modern skill
of the surgeons gifted hand. The
habits of the great water mammals
however, tend to prolong life, and their
resisting power against the insidious
destroyer is eloquent of their tenacious
hold on existence. When we realize
the enormous physical strength of the
whale we wonder less at it's combative
force. These great sea creatures are
not fish. strictly speaking. but the larg-
est of living animals-warm blooded
air breathing. bringing forth their
young CASUALLY singly) alive. and sue
ling them for definite period.
When the whale is finally captured
and please bear in mind that we are
speaking of the sperm and ambergris
whale alone-it is taken in tow along
the ships side. The cutting process is
then begun. The tough outer skin and