Description of the Sperm Whale.—Described externally.—Difference
between the Sperm and Right Whale.
Before proceeding farther, perhaps it will be interesting to the
reader if we give a brief description of the external form of the
sperm whale. The following draft represents the shape of the animal,
and the various dotted lines show the manner of dividing it, in order
to “heave it in on deck.”
[Illustration: A, the nostril, or spout-hole; B, the situation of the
case; C, the junk; D, the bunch of the neck; E, the eye; F, the fin;
G, the spiral strips, or “blanket-pieces;” H, the hump; I, the ridge;
K, the small; L, the tail, or flukes; M, the jaw.]
The head of the whale presents in front a thick, blunt appearance,
and constitutes about one third the length of the animal. At its
junction with the body is a protuberance on its back, called the
“bunch of the neck;” immediately back of this is the thickest part
of the body. It then gradually tapers for about another third of
the whole length, when the “small,” as it is called, commences; and
at this point on the back is another and larger prominence of a
pyramidal form, called the “hump,” from which a series of smaller
prominences runs half way down the small, forming the “ridge.” The
body then contracts so much as to become not larger than the body
of a man, and terminates by being expanded on the sides into the
“flukes,” or tail. The flukes resemble somewhat in shape the tail of
a fish, only being placed horizontal instead of perpendicular. In
the larger whales these flukes are from eight to ten feet in length,
and from fourteen to sixteen feet in breadth. The depth of the head
and body is greater than the width.
At the angle formed by the superior and anterior surfaces of the
head, a little on the left side, is the nostril, or “spout-hole,”
which, in the dead animal, presents the appearance of a slit, or
fissure, in form resembling an S, extending longitudinally, and
about twelve inches in length. The “case,” situated in the upper
part of the head, is a large, almost triangular-shaped cavity,
lined by a beautiful glistening membrane, and covered by a thick
layer of muscular fibres and tendons running in various directions,
and finally united by common integuments. This cavity is for the
purpose of containing and secreting an oily fluid, which after death
concretes into a granulated substance of a yellowish-white color—the
spermaceti. The quantity of fluid contained in the case depends on
the size of the whale; from that of a large whale fifteen barrels of
liquid spermaceti are often taken.
Immediately beneath the case, and projecting beyond the lower jaw,
is situated the junk, which is composed of dense cellular tissue,
strengthened by numerous strong tendons and fibres, and infiltrated
with spermaceti.
The mouth is at the base of the head, and continues nearly its
whole length. The lower jaw is pointed in front, and gradually
widens till it is received in the socket of the upper jaw. It
contains forty-two teeth, conical in shape, and, in the large whale,
formidable in appearance. There are none, however, in the upper jaw,
but indentations which receive the points of those in the lower jaw.
Sometimes a few rudimentary teeth are found in the upper jaw, never,
however, projecting beyond the gums, upon which those in the lower
jaw strike when the mouth is closed.
The tongue is of a white color, exceedingly small, and does not
appear to possess the power of very extended motion.
The mouth is lined throughout with a white membrane, which becomes
continuous at the lips, and borders with the common integument, where
it becomes of a dark brown or black color.
The eyes are small, and are furnished with eyelids. They are situated
above and behind the angle of the mouth, at the widest part of
the head. At a short distance behind the eyes are the external
openings of the ears, of sufficient size to admit a small quill, and
unprovided with any external auricular appendage.
The fins are not far from the posterior angle of the mouth, and are
analogous in their formation to the anterior extremities of other
animals. They are not much used as instruments of progression, but
probably in giving a direction to motions in balancing the body, in
sinking suddenly, and occasionally in protecting and supporting their
young.
[Illustration: SPERM WHALE.]
In a full-grown male sperm whale of the largest size the dimensions
may be given as follows: Length, from eighty to ninety feet; depth
of head, from ten to twelve feet; breadth, from seven to ten feet;
depth of body, from sixteen to eighteen feet; swimming paws, or fins,
about eight feet long and three broad; the tail, or flukes, have been
previously mentioned.
In reviewing the description of the external form and some of the
organs of the sperm whale, it will, perhaps, not be uninteresting
if some comparison is instituted between them and the corresponding
points of the right whale. One of the greatest peculiarities of the
sperm whale, which strikes, at first sight, every beholder, is the
apparently disproportionate and unwieldy bulk of the head; but this,
instead of being, as might be supposed, an impediment to the freedom
of the animal’s motion in his native element, is, on the contrary,
in some respects very conducive to his lightness and agility. A
great part of the bulk of the head is composed of a large, thin,
membraneous case, containing, during life, a thin oil of much less
specific gravity than water, below which again is the junk, which,
although heavier than the spermaceti, is still lighter than the
element in which the whale moves; consequently, the head is lighter
than any other part of the body, and will always have a tendency to
rise, at least so far above the surface as to elevate the nostril,
or “spout-hole,” sufficiently for all purposes of respiration. In
case the animal should wish to increase his speed to the utmost, the
narrow anterior and inferior surface, which bears a resemblance to
the cut-water of a ship, and which would, in fact, answer the same
purpose to the whale, would be the only part exposed to the pressure
of the water in front, enabling him thus to pass, with the greatest
ease and celerity, through the boundless track of his wide domain.
[Illustration: RIGHT WHALE.]
It is in the shape of the head that the sperm whale differs, in the
most remarkable degree, from the right whale—the shape of whose
head more resembles that of a porpoise—and in it the spout-hole is
situated much farther back, rendering it seldom or never necessary
for the nose to be elevated above the surface of the water. The
eyes, in both the sperm and right whale, are exceedingly small in
comparison with their bulk; still, they are tolerably quick-sighted.
We are not aware that the sperm whale possesses, in any respect,
any superiority. We again observe, in the formation of the mouth, a
very remarkable difference in the two animals; for, in place of the
enormous plates of whalebone which are found attached to the upper
jaw of the right whale, we only find depressions for the reception of
the teeth of the lower jaw, which plainly point out that the food of
the two animals must be very different.
[Illustration: RIGHT WHALE BONE.]
There are several prominences or humps on the back of the sperm
whale, which constitutes another difference in their external aspect.
These prominences are not altogether peculiar to the sperm whale, as
there is a species of fish, called by whalemen “humpbacks,” which
possesses a prominence on the back very similar to that of the sperm
whale.
The skin of the sperm whale is smooth, but occasionally, in old
whales, wrinkled. The color of the skin, over the greatest part of
the body, is very dark. In different whales there is considerable
variety of shade; some are even piebald. “Old bulls,” as full-grown
males are called by whalemen, have generally a portion of gray on the
nose above the fore-part of the upper jaw, and they are then said to
be “gray headed.” In young whales the “black skin,” as it is called,
is about three eighths of an inch thick, but in old ones it is not
more than one eighth.
Immediately beneath the black skin is the blubber, or fat, which is
contained in a cellular membrane, and which is much strengthened by
numerous fibres. The average thickness of the fat on the breast of a
large whale, when in good condition, is about eighteen inches. The
“hump” is generally the thickest part of the blubber, being sometimes
from twenty-two to twenty-six inches in thickness; and, in most other
parts of the body, it measures from nine to fourteen inches. The head
is not, however, supplied with this covering, or blubber, having only
the black skin, which lies close to a layer of very dense cellular
tissue, under which is seen a considerable thickness of numerous
small tendons, intermixed with muscular fibres.
This thick covering of blubber, or fat, is called the “blanket;” it
is of a yellowish color, and, when melted down, furnishes the sperm
oil. It also serves two excellent purposes to the whale: rendering it
buoyant, and furnishing it with a warm protection from the coldness
of the surrounding element—in this last respect, answering well to
the name bestowed upon it by whalemen.
[Illustration: CUTTING IN.]