Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-07-17

showed clearly from anatomical con-
siderations that the whale could not
spout forth such volume of sea
water. the water which does actully
leave the blow hole is simply the
breath of the creature condensed.
mingled often with a little of the sur
iace water or the sea. which the
whaie dlsturbs by commencing the act
OF expiration when a little way ne
meath the surface of the water Rapp,
however, deservedly considered an
authority upon the cetaCea. went back
10 an earlier view and held that the
SpoutlnS was means of getting rid
OF the abundant water taken in with
the food. After this date there were
occurrences to the correct view, and
again lapses tnerefrom. There is now
no doubt about the matter at all.
ire lnternai part of the nose in man
ana other mammals serves an Olfactory
as wen as respiratory function. The
sense OF smell is there located In the
whale this sense, as is evidenced by
the structure of the brain, is rudi-
mentary or absent, and the nostrils
therefore have but one function to
perform. that of taking in and ex-
pelling respiratory air
Mose.ey. in his Notes of n Nat,ira-
list on the Challenger" describes the
blowing Of a hump-back whale which
follows the Challenger for several
days in the South Pacific. as follows:
The appearance of a whales spout
as seen from the level of the sea IS
Very different from that which it has
when seen from the deck of a ship;
IT appears so much higher. and shoots
up into the air like n fountain lis
charged from a very fine rose The
whale. of course, in reality does not
discharge water, but only its brea,
this. however, in rushing up into The
air hot from the animals body. has it's
moisture condensed to form sort of
ram, and the colder the air, Just IN the
case of our own breath, the more
marked the result. When the spout is
made with the blow hole clear above
the surface Of the water. il appears
like sudden jet of steam from a
boiler. When effected. as it sometimes
is, before the blow hole reaches the
surface, low fountain. as from
street fire plug. is formed. and when
moment little water is sent up with
the tall jet OF steam The cloud
blown up does not disappear at once.
but hangs little while. and is often
seen to drift short distance with the
wind The eXpratory sound is very
loud when heard close by and is
sort of deep bass snort. extremely
loud and somewhat prolonged; it
might even be compared to the sound
produced by the rushing of steam at
high pressure from a large pipe"
Whales are divisible into two groups
those with and those without teeth.
the odontoseti and the mystacoceti of
various authors. The mystacoceti.
however. the "~halebone whales.
possess teeth in the young condition
that is they start life with rudi-
mentary teeth, which ultimately dis
appear on the appearance of whale
bone. The general character Of whale
bone resembles that Of horns or hair.
The color is black. white or brown.
Tho place where the whalebone is
formed is the roof of the mouth. the
palate. The plates of whalehonc are
triangular in shape. the base OF at
lower. free extremity The plates are
attached by the broad base To the roof
Of the mouth, and they may. indeed.
be regarded as an cxaECcration nf the
ridges. often horny in character.
which are found on the roof of TN"
mnuth of all mammals. The plates
are arranged in a direction trans
verse to the long axis Of the mouth.
and are very numerous, as many as
so having been counted. The blades
are longest in the middle of this long
~erics. and gradually diminish
toward both ends of the mouth. Tn"
outside Of the blades. that turned
toward the lips is straight and hard:
the inner side is fraycd out into in
Vulnerable hair-like processes. Thus
an exceedingly efficient strainnC an
naratus is formed. The fine hairs en-
tangle the minute creatures upon
which the Grecland whale feeds. and
at the same time allows the water to
escape through the sides of the mouth
between the lips.
The economic products of whales are
the flesh. the bones. the whalehonr and
the oil derived from the blubher. 1t is
for these substances that they 1rc
hunted The hlubhcr forms = thick
coating Immediately underlying the
skin. Pcsidts. there is in many whales.
especially in the sperm whale. Ger
tain amount of clear oil contained in
the bead, which is solid when cold.
and is known as spermaceti.
The American whale fishery began as
early as the year 1914. At first the ami
mails were pursued from the shore.
and the island Of Nantucket was the
hea dquarters of the industry. The
whales we've watched from a tall
spar" and when the animal was seen
to spout the boats Immediately set
out in pursuit. The whale when cap
tured was towcd i'm shore. and the
q Hcnsing carried out on the beach.
Shore whaling. however. was. after
no great period. abandoned, for the
rea son that the whales had begun to
--ot ccai,r. sd.ps wcrc tie, ft.cd nrt
FOR long voyages. and in 1870 ship
tied out at New Bedford doubled
APE Horn. and really inaugurated
he South Pacific whale fishery.
The VIII; 70 trade went on increasing
"or many oars in leaps and bounds
= n 1775 the"c we're as many as 300 YES
els engaccd II the industry. and by
$40 the It'll -',mbor Of ships had in
reascd to bout 730. representing an
reregate tonnage Of 23S 1S9 tons. At
This period the Investments con-
,ected til the business are said 4"