See Cete. The whale. There many kinds of this fish; but the two principal are the Greenland whale: also called balaena vulgaris, balaena major, musculus; according to Pliny, mysticetus: the

Greenland, or black whale. The spermaceti whale is the physeter macrocephalus.

It is from the upper jaw that whale bone is taken, and from no other part of this fish. Besides this bone, its only produce is its oil, used for burning in lamps, but of no use in medicine. In Paris, they have two sorts of whale oil: the best is called huile de grande baye: it is made from the blubber immediately after it is taken out of the fish, and is not so offensive in smell as that from Holland, which is melted down after their arrival.

The latter also called cachalot, catodon, from having teeth only in the lower jaw, balaena macrocephala, trompa, byaris, occa. The spermaceti whale does not afford any whale bone; but its teeth are ivory. From its body it yields a finer oil than that from the Greenland species; as well as Spermaceti, q. v.