Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/125

February 6, 1885.] floor. are savage implements and curiosities. which cannot fail to interest the visitor, espe- cially as they are all explained by the curator. Mr. Murphy, who has thrilling talen to tell of each separate piece; nor is the curiosity-hunter the only person who is likely to be interested in this museum. In its collection of tropical abells, there are many which cannot be num- bered among the commonest: but, for the naturalist, the one thing which possesses an

all-absorbing interest is the sperm-whale's jaw, which extends nearly across the exhibition- room. The curator, who considers this bis spe- cial pet, is full of enthusiasm for it, and claims that it is the only full-grown jaw of a sperm- whale in America. It was taken in 1865 by a Nantucket whaler in the Pacific Ocean, from a sperm-whale which measured eighty-seven feet in length and thirty-six feet in circumference, and had the enormous weight of two hundred tons. The whale gave forty-five hundred gal- lons of oil. The jaw itself weighs eight hun- dred pounds, measures seventeen feet in length, and has forty-six buge teeth. These are badly worn, and prove that the animal must have been very old. In connection with the jaw,

Mr. Murphy describes the animal, tells about its enemy the whale-killer, its parasites and other pests, explains the process of killing the whale and cutting up and trying out the blub- ber, illustrating his talk either with the appa- ratus itself or with ingeniously made models. On the other side of the room is a small jaw twisted in a spiral direction, and bearing plain evidences of having been injured at an earlier stage. The teeth are long and somewhat Blender, partly from the youth of the animal, partly from disuse. When taken, the whale was alive; but the lower jaw was badly aborted, and the animal was in a poor state. It must have been in this condition for years, and have lived upon what chanced to come in its way. It is to he hoped that the collection may al- ways be well cared for, and may become more than now the nucleus of a good collection of the natural objects of Nantucket itself.

THE 'COMMA BACILLUS' OF KOCH.

Dr. Koen has himself stated in precise terms the nature of the proof required in order to es-