The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-06-10
NAS JONAH
SWALLOWED UP
Government Scientists WreS-
Ting With the Question
NOT AN IMP0SSlBlllIY
Large Enough Ones Caught to
Contain Two
NOT AN IMPOSSIBILITY

Washington, June S-D1d the Whate
swallow Jonah?
The question which has been the sub
jeet Of so much dispute, has been re-
vived among government scientists by
the expedition sent 60 New Foundland
by the Smithsonian Institution in pur-
suit of finback whale.
The what sought is the biggest of sew
eral species Of fnback whales. 1t is the
largest animal now existing on the earth.
But was it the particular kind of ceta-
cean that ate Jonah?
Science. with the data now at hand
has been able 10 sift the matter to some
extent, and, as one might say, to boil
down the evidence. As a result, the fact
may be considered as definitely establish
ed that. Notwithstanding widespread in
credulity on the subject-an incredulity
which has striven TO classify the Scrip
turaI account as either fiction or ale
Eory-there is nothing inherently i'm
possible in the Jonah story. The whale
might have swallowed and Accommodated
in its interior two Jonahs if there had
been pair of them.
Accurate figures in regard to the ca
pacity of a whale-the first published,
and Endorsed by the highest scientific
authority-will be given presently. But.
meanwhile it is desirable to mention the
was organized and is directed by DIR.
Frederick w. True, who has sent Mr.
F. A Lucas, a famous expert, TO Balena
Station. on the south coast of NeWfound-
land with instructions TO obtain, at all
hazards. q cast of one of the monstroHs
cetaceans.
Mr.. Lucas is now on the spot and, hav-
ing secured the whale. is engaged in max
ing a mould of it. Having provided him
self in advance with about twenty barrels
of plaster of paris, taken from st. John s
he mixes the stuff with water in sort
of bin of planks, such as masons use
for similar purposes, and then pours in
in bucketfuls over the carcass.
The animal, being about 800 feet long,
with a weight of thirty tons, must be
tackled a bit at a time, working from
tail to nose. in order to obtain series
of plaster sections. WHICH, duly fitted
together, shall represent the complete
creature.
The plaster sections will be packed in
about fifty large boxes and forwarded to
Washington, where. in the workshops Of
the Smithsonian Institution, they will be
used for making a complete cast Of the
whale in papier-mache. For this pur-
pose the treasury department viii con-
tribute a great quantity of the pulp that
comes from the pot in which Uncle Sans
old paper money is boiled after being
redeemed, so that the transmogrified
cetacean VIII actually represent, in a
certain sense, a value of many millions
of dollars.
The cast "a mere shell for the sake of
Iightness) will be a perfect reproduction
Of the whale, and, after being painted.
will be the literal image of the original
animal even to the smallest detail. II
will be hung up for exhibition in a great
hall of the new building that is to be
erected for the National Museum.
Now. when it comes to the question
whether or not this was the kind Of whale
that swallowed Jonah, science is inclined
10 negative opinion. The throat of
finback whale. Notwithstanding the enor-
nous size Of the animal. is so small that
a mans arm could hardly be thrust down
it. Besides. the creature is not a beast
Of prey: it feeds upon small cructaceans
and other animalcules which float about
at the surface of the sea-in short, it is
q whale Of gentle manners. and not at
al Of the sort that would absorb pro-
phet al a gulD.
The right or Greenland whale is the /
next biggest whale. 1t attains a length |
of seventy feet and is the principal source |
Of both whaleoiI and whalebone. But /
of a certainty it was not the whale that /
ate Jonah. inasmuch as 1t feeds. like the
fnback, upon tiny pelagic animalcules |
and could not possibly swallow a mans I
leg. much less the whole body.
Such a peaceabIe creature is it that |
It has not even any teeth but Sits its |
provender through a sort Of screen, which |
is composed Of a material known COM |
nlercially as whalebone.
There are several other species of /
whales. most of them much smaller. but |
su the available evidence points 20 the |
conclusion that the particular cetaeean /
which tok in Jonah was none other than /
the sperm whale-an animal sixty feet /
long when fun grown. OF a predatory in !
clination. with throat big enough 70 /
swallow man and possessed Of a stom- /
sch Of sufficient capacity TO hold him. I
Such. in fact. is the "cachalot' common /
" so called which under ordinary cir /
cumstauces. feeds upon cuttletlsh. Per I
haps the Scriptural specimen mistooIl /
Jonah swimming in the water for a large I
cephalopod.
Dr. r Z. Beddard. anatomst OF the /
Geological Society Of London. has recent |
" published an opinion to The effect that /
a. adult sperm whale might without 4
difficulty swallow . man.
OF course. Jonah may have been a 1
small msu-some men arc fully twice as /
big as others-snd If so the problem ap-i
pears more easy Of solution. The cacha-
lot. he it realized. is a true beast of prey.
frequently attacking the giant squid q
nlonstrous cuttlcfsh which has tenacies /
fifty feet long,. and TO suppose that il 4
would balk at a human being II hunEry
Is absurd.
once dGwn tho throat Of the whale 1
Jonah found himself in sort Of supheri-
cal chamber. which a German anatomist |
has called the crop" and from which /
he passed on 10 the stomach proper
fairly romy place. cylindrical in shape.
and about seven feet long by three feet
in diameter. OF course he could not
stand up. but he might lie down com
forte bly,. and it may he supposed that
he did not experience any very painful 1
Inconvenience so long as his host chose
20 refrain from eating other things. \
few cutlefishes CT large size might have
been uncomfortable rorn-mates.
There are two minor stomachs beyond
the main stomach OF the sperm whale.