MANUFACTURES.

441

jchanio'

rOCtfS seS *

tute^'" °P ene< ^ on ^ er arrival in port. Scoresby, Arctic Re-v s ' , gions, vqI. ii.

Pr^p., (634.) Preparation of whalebone. —Whalebone, or

*>f whale w hale fins, as the substance is sometimes, though in-

* ,0Ue . correctly, named, is found in the mouth of the common

Greenland whale, to which it serves as a substitute forteeth. It forms an apparatus most admirably adapted asa filter for separating the minute animals on which thewhale feeds from the sea water in which they exist.

It is a substance of a horny appearance and consistence, extremely flexible and elastic, generally of a bluish-black colour, but not unfrequently striped longitudinallywith white, and exhibiting a beautiful play of colour onthe surface. Internally it is of a fibrous texture, re-sembling hair; and the external surface consists of asmooth enamel, capable of receiving a good polish.

This substance when taken from the whale consists oflaminae, connected by what is called the gum in a parallelseries, and ranged along each side of the mouth of theanimal. The laminae are about 300 in number in eachside of the head. The length of the longest blade,which occurs near the middle of the series, is the crite-rion fixed on by the fishers for designating the size ofthe fish. The greatest length is about 15 feet; but aninstance very rarely occurs of any being met with aboveor 13 feet. Its greatest breadth, which is at theroot end. is 10 or 12 inches, and its greatest thickness

T*fT or of an inch.

The two sides or series of the whalebone are connecteda t the upper part of the head or crown bone of the fish,within a few inches of each other, from whence theyhang downwards, diverging so far as to enclose thetongue between their extremities; the position of theWades with regard to each other resembles a frame ofsa ws in a saw-mill; and taken altogether, they exhibit insome measure the form and position of the roof of ahouse. The smaller extremity and interior edge of eachblade of bone, or the edge annexed to the tongue, areCovered with a long fringe of hair consisting of a similarbind of substance similar to that constituting the interiorof 'he bone.

Whalebone is generally brought from Greenland inoje same state as when taken from the fish, after beingWvided into portable junks or pieces, comprising 10 or12 laminae in each; but, occasionally, it is subdivided intose parate blades, and the gum and hair removed whenat sea.

One of the first importations of whalebone into Eng­ land was probably in the year 1594, when a quantity of,ls substance, being part of the cargo of a wreckedg'seayan ship, was picked up at Cape Breton by somegr n ^ ’sh ships fitted out for the whale and morse fish-'es. after the example of the Icelanders and Biscayans,that • su hs' ance has been held in so high estimation,since the establishment of the Spitzbergen whale

fishery the British have occasionally purchased it of the MechanicalDutch at the rate of £700 per ton. It is calculated Ikoresses.that at least £100,000 per annum were paid to theDutch for this article about the year 1715 or 1721, whenthe price was £400. About the year 1763 the price inEngland was £500 per ton; but after an extensive im-portation of this article from New England , the pricedeclined to £350, and subsequently as low as £50 perton. Of late years the price has usually been fluctuat-ing between £50 and £150 per ton. Whalebone be-comes more valuable as it increases in length and thick-ness.

On or near the premises in which the oil is extractedthe whalebone is commonly cleaned and prepared. Thefirst, operation, if not already done, consists of deprivingit of the gum. It is then put into a cistern containingwater, until the dirt upon its surface becomes soft. Whenthis effect is sufficiently produced, it is taken out, pieceby piece, laid on a plank placed on the ground wherethe operator stands, and scrubbed or scoured wilh sandand water, by means of a broom or a piece of cloth. Itis then passed to another person who, on a plank orbench, elevated to a convenient height, scrapes the rootend where the gum was attached until he produces asmooth surface ; he or another workman then applies aknife or a pair of shears to the edge, and completely de-taches all the fringe of hair connected with it. Anotherperson, who is generally the superintendent of fhe con-cern, afterwards receives it, washes it in a vessel of cleanwater, and removes with a bit of wood the impuritiesout of the cavities of the root. Thus cleansed, it is ex-posed to the air and sun until thoroughly dry, when itis removed into a warehouse, or other place of safety andshelter.

Before it is offered for sale, it is usually scrubbed withbrushes and haircloth, by which the surface receives apolish, and all dirt or dust adhering to it is removed;and, finally, it is packed in portable bundles, consistingof about a hundred weight each. The size bone, or suchpieces as measure six feet or upwards in length, is keptseparate from under size , the latter being usually sold athalf the price of the former. Each blade being termi-nated with a quantity of hair, there is sometimes a dif-ficulty in deciding whether some blades of whaleboneare size or not. Owing to the diminished value of un-der size bone, and more particularly in consequence ofthe captain and some officers engaged in a fishing shiphaving a premium on every size fish, it becomes a matter ofsome importance in a doubtful case to decide this point.

From a decision which has been made in a Court of Law,it is now a generally received rule, that so much of thesubstance terminating each blade as gives rise to two ormore hairs is whalebone ; though, in fact, the hair itselfis actually the same substance as that of which the whale-bone is composed. See the Work above quoted.