Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-01-06
IA SCRAWNY WHALE.
APPENDICITIS MADE IT WORTH SIXTY
THOUSAND DOLLARS.
rhe Very Latest Theory a. to the Origin
OF Ambergris--What 1t Is and the Use
Made of 1.-THE Foundation Of Almost
! Every Perfume Formula,

! Every Perfume Formula.
Three spermaceti whales were compan-
1onably floating about in southern waters
ono sunshiny day not so very many years
ago. Two were fine specimens of the genus
physeter. The third, however, though of
the same species, was lank and scrawny
and lolled listlessly on the dark blue sur
face Of the gulf stream, while its more ro-
ttlnd and sportive comrades slashed about
vigorously and sent the limpid waters far
above them, to fall in refreshing sprays
Perhaps if the two well conditioned ami
mails had been less frolicsome and the third
more aroused, they would have been on
the alert for defense AS it was, long,
narrow boat, pointed at both ends, bore
down unobserved upon them, and the
whalemen, sent with unerring aim their
weapons straight into two bulky creatures
The scrawny whale escaped, though it
made no motion to get away.
Next day, to the amazement of the
whalemen, the animal was seen in almost
exactly the same spot, as though inviting
death. Well, - called out the captain of
the whaling fleet, who had been of the
party of 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 in many day. But little more
than two barrels of oil was found in 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 q
we'll known drug firm of this city, whose
figures rounded close on to 500, 600! Never
had SO large a check been seen till then in
the little Cape Cod fishing town, where ii
was divided among the whalemen of the
ship, as each man on a whaler receives d
certain percentage of the proceeds of the
voyage. The number of pounds found in
this whale aggregated over $50, valued
at $50 per ounce, the price paid for the
best ambergris.
Itwould seem that the animal had sick
ened of a malady caused by the unnatural
growth, and such was undoubtedly the
case, and if its sufferings had not been
brought to an end by the whalemen, it
would have fingered till the disease itself
had finally caused death
What is ambergris? In the ARABIAN
Nights" we are told of eastern beauties
whose checks were marked with moles like
bits of ambergris, and in the story of the
sixth voyage of 'Sindbad the Sailor we
read in the description of the place where
the Yoyagers were wrecked, Here is also
fountain of pitch and bitumen that runs
into the sea, which the fishes swallow and
then vomit it up again, turned into am
bergris!" That antique author, Robert
Boyle, considered it to be of vegetable pro-
duction and similar to yellow amber; thus
it received its name, amber-gris-gray am
Der.
This and other even more plausible the
cries are but indeed fallacies that puzzled
savants have set forth when they were at
a loss to account for its origin. 1t is now
ascertained beyond doubt to be generated
by the large headed sperm whale and is
the result of diseased state of the animal
The victim of this rare malady may posi-
bly, throw off the morbific substance, or
finally die of the ailment. The disease is
located in the intestinal canal, and some
savants suppose 1t to be caused by q bill
iary irritation. After a deep study ON the
subject several modern scientists have
agreed that tho disorder is akin to that
now fashionable human peril appendicitis,
intensified and prolonged in this great
mammal, yet that dread ailment that has
but lately been understood by the surgeons
and medical men of the world.
To the conservative whale fisher of New
Bedford or Provincetown the discovery of
ambergris is as unexpected and as longed
for rs the sheeny splendor of the pearl that
gladdens the pearl fisher. Almost awe
stricken are the sailors when the cry of
'ambergris' is uttered. This is the happy
event Of lifetime The substance is care
fully taken from the bowels of the whale
and is packed in casks if it is in liquid
form, or in sacks if it is dry enough.
1t is then brought direct to Boston,
where it is appraised by the head of the
largest wholesale drug firm in the city.
This young man has no enviable task be-
fore him in ascertaining the value of the
article. He has to examine the fetid mass,
which is sometimes in a rank liquid state,
sometimes Of the consistency Of soft putty,
and again chalklike substance That
which is more like putty usually is to be
relied on for making the best market am
bergris, and gradually, as it dries, the on
ly curing process it undergoes the I'M
wholesome dark shade turns to soft
squirrel gray. The substance lightens in
weight, developing fascinating odor al
most indescribable, like the blending of
new mown hay, the damp woody fragrance
of q fern copse and the faintest possible
perfume Of the violet.
And to what use is ambergris put? 1t is
an Indispensable article with fine perfum-
ers, as it is used to give permanency and
lasting qualities to very fleetng scents. 1t
is a curious fact that the keynote or basis
of ''nosegays'' or bouquets as handker-
chief odors are called, is not, as one might
suppose, the altar of garden flowers, nei-
Their the penetrating balsams. These are
Indispensable but are not the groundwork.
That basis is always one Of the four ami
NAL odors-i. O., ambergris; musk, obtain
ed from small musk deer of Asia; civet,
from the civet cat Of India, and castor, a
secretion of the castor beaver and now al
most obsolete in the perfume trade. Tho
pure and separate tincture of any one of
these odors is too intense and powerful to
be tolerated. Like all substances of the
kind, it must undergo a slow decomposi-
ton till the remainders possess very little
volatility. Even then they contain a vir-
tue which clings pertinaciously to woven
fabrics, and not being soluble in weak al
kaline Ives is still to be detected in the
material, after passing through the sever
est lavatory ordeal. They are, therefore,
Of great value to the perfumer and are
the foundation in almost every formula
Boston Cor. St. Louis Globe Democrat