The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-09-11
THE AMBERGR1s MYSTERY.

Curious Facts concerning a Little
 Known Substance-Capture Of an
 Ambergris Whale-His Product
 Brought Sixty Thousand Dollars
 Supposed to be the Result of Appen-
 dicitis in the Whale.
 Three .spermaceti whale were com panionably floating about in southern waters one sunshiny day not so very many years ago. Two were 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 it's more rotund and sportive comrades slashed about vigor- ously, and sent the limpid waters far above them to fall in refreshing sprays It was mystery why any whale at that season should have presented an ill-fed condition, as the feeding grounds had been unusually well pop ulated by the tentaculated and foul mouthed cutie fish, Sepia octopodia, and no whale had need to go single day with an empty stomach. Perhaps if the two well-conditioned animals had been less frolicsome, and the third more aroused, they would have been on the alert for defense. As it was. a long, narrow boat, pointed at both ends bore down unobserved upon them, and the Whalemen sent with un- eIring aim their weapons straight into the two bulky creatures. The scrawny whale escaped; though it made no mo- ton to get away; 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, it was left unmo- tested, still rocking lazily in the sea.
 Next day, to the amazement of the whalemen,. the animal was seen in al- most exactly the same spot, as though inviting death. "well," 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 it, too, was disposed of, the easiest task, the men agreed, that they had had i'll many a day. But little more than two barrels of oil were found in the emaci- ated whale. Another and vastly more important discovery was the largest single lot of ambergris ever sold in this country It was exchanged for a check signed by a well-known drug firm of this city, whose figures rounded close on to sixty thousand dollarsi Never had so large a check been seen till then in the little Cape Cod fishing town, where it was divided among the whale men of the fleet, as each man on a whaler receives a certain per centage of the proceeds of a voyage. The num- Der of pounds found in this whale ag- gregated over one hundred and fifty, valued at thirty dollars per ounce, the price paid for the best ambergris.
 A Disease of the Sperm Whale.
 It would seem that the animal had sickened of malady caused by the unnatural growth. and such was un- doubtediy the case, and if it's sufferings had not been brought to an end by the whalemen it would have fingered till the disease itself had finally caused death.
 Such profound mystery has sur rounded this strange subject. and so many fallacies have been witten in re- gard to it that some of the later ency- clopedias haveperhaps wisely-left it untouched, or, if treating 1t all, have ventured on but the barest generalities, for trustworthy facts relating to this most interesting and singulariy valua- ble product are few and far between.