The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-09-23
A SCRAWNY WHALE.
APPENDICITIS MADE 1T WORTH SIXTY
THOUSAND DOLLARS.

Three spormaocti whales were cumpan-
ionably liomug about In southern waters
ono sunshiuy Gay hot so very many years
! ago. TWO were fine specimens of the genus
| physster. The third however, though of
! the same species, was lank and scrawny
and lulled listlossiy on the dark blue sur
| face Of the gulf stream, while its more ro-
! tund and sportiye comrades slashcd about
| vigorously and sent tho limpid wators far
above thom, TO fail IN refreshing sprays.
| Perhaps il the two well conditioned ami
/ mails had been loss frulicsOmo and the third
! moro aroused, they would hayo been on
! the alert for defense. AS il was, a lon-.
| narrow boat, pointed NJ both ends, h0ro
down uncbaerved upon them, and tho
| whalcmen sent with unerring aim their
| weapons straight into two bulky creatures.
, The sCrawny whale escaped, though IL
! mado no motion 10 get away.
Next day, to the amazement of tho
whalemen, tho 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 tho
| party of 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 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 a check signed by
we'll known drug firm of this city, whose
| figures rounded close on to $50, 600! Never
had so large check been seen till then in
| the little Cape Cod fishing town, where it
| was divided among the whalemen of the
| ship, as each man on n whaler receives a
certain percentage of the proceeds of tho
| voyage. The number of pounds found in
| this whale aggregated over $50, valued
| at $50 per ounce, the price paid for the
| best ambergris.
ltwould seem that the animal had sick
! ened of 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 voyagers were wrecked Here is also
| "a fountain of pitch and bitumen that runs
into the sea, which the fishes swallow and
! then vOmlt IL up again, turned into am
| bergris! ~ That antique author, Robert
Boyle, considered 1t to he of vegetable pro-
duction and similar to yellow amber; thus
| it received it's name, amber-gris- gray am
! Der.
This and other even more plausible the
cries are but indeed fallaoies that puzzled
savants have set forth when they were at
loss to account for its origin. 1t is now
ascertained beyond doubt to DO 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 morbitic substance, or
| finally die of the ailment The disease is
located in the intestinal canal, ard some
savants suppose it to be caused by "a bill
iary irritation. After deep study on the
subject several modern scientists have
agreed that the 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
ambcrgris is as unexpected and as longed
for as the sheeny splendor Of the pearl that
gladdens the pearl fisher. Almost awe
stricken are the sailors when the cry of
"ambcrgris" 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 i'm 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- j
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 n 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 "a fern copse and the faintest possible
perfume of the violet.
And to what use is ambergris putt 1t is
an Indispensable article with fine perfum-
ers, as IL is used to give permanency and
lasting qualities to very fleeting scents. 1t J
is 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 nov al |
most obsolete in the perfume trade. he |
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 viz
tue which olings pertinaciously to woven |
fabrics, and not being soluble in weak al
kaline lyes 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
Ga IT III.