The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-27
THE ANnEHGBIs MYSTERY.
The tees 60 which the Material l.
From the BOSTON rransrrtnt.

From the Boston Transcript.
Three spcrmaccti whales were compan-
ionably floating ABOUT IN southern waters
one sunshiny day not SO very many years
ago Two We're fine specimens OF the ee-
nus physeter; the third. however. though
Of the same species. was Iank and scrawny
and lolled Hst,essly on the dark blue sur
face Of the gulf stream. while its more
rotund and sDortive comrades sIashed
about vigorously. and sent the Hmpid
waters far above them 10 fan in refresh
ing sprays. II was a mystery why any
whale at that season should have pre-
scented an ill-fed condition. as the feeding
grounds had been unusually well popu-
lated by the tentaculated and foul mouth
ed cutie FISH. Sepia octopodia. and no
whale had need to 90 a single day with an
empty stomach. Perhaps IL the two well
conditioned animals had been less frolic-
some, and the third more aroused they
would have been on the alert for defense.
As II was, long. narrow boat pointed at
both ends, bore down unobserved upon
them, and the whalemen sent with uner-
ring ann their weapons straight into the
two bulky creatures. The scrawny whale
escaped. though IL made no motion to
set away; but because IL was evident there
would be but little. If any. oil or sperma-
ceu in the animal. and because the cap
ture Of the two splendid specimens had
been more than was expected, 1t was left
unmolested, still rocking lazily in the sea
Next day. to the amazement OF the
Whalemen, the animal was seen in almost
exactly the same spot, as though inviting
death.
We'll" called out the captain OF the
whaling rrrha ba a..
party the day before. IF you wish to die.
you poor, crazy lubber, you SHALL" and
forthwith IL, 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 were found In the
emaciated whale. Another and vastly
more important discovery was the largest
single lot of ambergris ever sold I'm this
country. 1t was exchanged for check
signed by a well known drug firm Of this
city whose figures rounded close onto
$4,000! Never had so large a check been
seen till then in the little Cape Cod fish
ing town, where Il was divided among
the whalemen of the fleet, as each man on
a whaler receives a certain percentage of
the proceeds Of a voyage. The number Of
pounds found aggregated oveg 150 valued
at 300 per ounce, the price paid for the
best ambergris
1t would 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 mad not been
brought to an end by the whalemen IL
would have fingered till the disease itself
had finally caused death. Such profound
mystery has surrounded this strange sub
ject, and so many fallacies have been
written in regard to IT, that some of the
later encyclopedias have-perhaps wisely
left IL untouched, or, If treating IL al
all have Wanfflrad IN bf. no
eralities, for trustworthy facts relating
TO this most interesting and singular pro-
duct are few and far between.
We need touch but lightly on the history
of the ambergris. though the decisions
that were primitively INDUCED in are ex-
tremely fascinating In the Arabian
Nights" we are told of eastern beauties
whose cheeks were 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 voyagers were wrecked: Here
is also a fountain Of pitch and bitumen
that runs into the sea, which the fishes
swallow, and then vomit up again turned
into ambergrisy That antique author,
Robert Boyle, considered 1t to be of vegeta-
bic production and similar 10 yellow am
Der; thus It received its name, amber-gris
gray, gray amber. This and other even
more plausible theories are but indeed fall
lacies that puzzled servants have set forth
when they were at a loss to account for
its origin. 1t is now assertained beyond
a doubt to be generated by the large head
ed sperm whale. and Is the result of the
diseased state of the animal. The victim
of this rare malady may possibly, in ex-
tremely rare cases (but OF this we are not
convinced by actual knowledge, throw off
the morbifc substance or finally die of the
ailment. The disease is located in the in
nd fa
It to be caused by a hillary irritation.
After a deep study on the subject several
modern scientists have agreed that the dis
order is akin TO the new fashioned human
peril, appendicitis, intensified and pro-
longed in this great animal.
1t Is known that the ambergris whale
feeds upon the cuttlefsh. This creature
is armed upon its head with a sharp
pointed, curved black horn resembling a
birds beak, much Ike that of a parrot
only the lower mandible is the largest
This is found--as IL is too indestructible
to be digested-in many specimens of am
bergris, and may oftentimes aid in estab-
fishing a seated disease. 1t may be con-
sidered, though, TO be but the primary
cause of irritation, as much Of the finest
ambergris is entirely free from the tough
little horn. Such is the effect in the whale
Of the magnihed-and tremendously mag
nified-illness which when established In
our own comparatively puny organism
causes a fatal COLLAPSE. unless quickly and
heroically attacked by the almost miracu-
lous 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 in
sidious destroyer is eloquent of their tena-
cious hold on existence. When we real
ize the enormous physical strength Of the
whale we wonder less at its combative
forca These great sea creatures are moi
fish, strictly speaking. but the largest
of living animals-warm blooded ali
breathing, bringing forth their young
Casually singly) alive, and sucking 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 true
skin-of which recent observations prove
the blubber is a part-are then cut up
and boiled, extreme precaution being TAX
en- that the woodwork Of the vessel does
not ignite in the progress. The hot oil IS
then lowered in casks to swing in the
trail of the ship until It cools; then II IS
a. a 1