It is from the mouth that the _Whalebone_, as it is called, comes. The jaws are not furnished with teeth, but in their place there is something which forms a curious sort of shrimp-trap, which I will describe to you. The whalebone is ranged along in blades upon the jaws, like the laths of a Venetian blind, and the inner edge of each blade is furnished with a fringe of fibrous stuff almost like hair. The natural position of the whale's mouth seems to be open, and it mostly swims along or lies near the surface, with its lower jaw hanging down. Little fish and insects, most of them of the smallest size, thus come in contact with the smooth edge of the blades of bone, slip between them, and become entangled in the hairy fringe of the inner edge, so that they can never get out again. When the whale thinks he has got enough in his mouth, he immediately raises his enormous lower jaw and swallows. One of his mouthfuls must often consist of millions of living creatures, respecting the kinds of which I shall have something to tell you in a future page. I told you that he was obliged to rise to the surface of the water to breathe. You would like to see him ascend for this purpose, and snort out a jet of thick vapour to the height of twenty feet, or more, and making such a noise, as may be heard at a distance of several miles. [Illustration] Under the skin, all over the body, there is a covering of yellowish fat of about a foot thick, which keeps the animal warm, answering the same purpose as the fur does on land animals. It is necessary, because the whale is not cold in the inside like other fish, but has warm, red blood, which is of a higher temperature even than that of a human being. This is another circumstance which becomes the more remarkable from the cold climate in which he lives. This fat is generally called blubber, and is what the oil comes from. When first it is taken from the whale, it has not the least unpleasant smell, and it is not till the cargo is unstowed that a whale ship is at all disagreeable. The largest sort of whale is called the _razor back_, from a ridge that runs along his back. They are often 100 feet in length. I never saw one of these taken, but the sailors told me that they were very difficult to come near, and after all, not worth the trouble of killing, for they have very little blubber. Then there is the Cachalot, or Sperm Whale, which is smaller, and much more slender than the common whale. It has teeth, and is of a very quarrelsome temper. It often fights with its own kind, and I have seen several of them which had been wounded in the jaws, and made blind by such conflicts. It is from the head of this animal that spermaceti is obtained.