WHALEBONE. The baleen plates which take the place of teeth in the mouths of the baleen whales (see WITALE), constitute the whalebone of commerce. They vary in length from a few inches up to ten, and even in rare instances 12 feet. Their chemical constitution is albumen hardened by a small proportion of phosphate of lime. Their color is usually of a bluish black, but in some species they are striped longitudi nally with bands of a whitish color: and they terminate at the point in a number of coarse black fibers of the baleen, which fibers are also found more or less down both sides of the blade. These fibers are mud] used by brushmakers. There arc three prin cipal kinds in the market, and they are generally known as whale-fins. The first is the Greenland. or Davis's strait and North sea fins; second, the South sea, or black fish-fins; third, the n.w. coast, or American whale fins. Whalebone requires some 'preparation before being fit for use; this, however, is very simple. It is first trimmed—that is, a:1 the hairs are removed from the point and edges of each blade; and generally the surface of each flat side is scraped. The blades are then boiled in water for several hours, until
they become soft enough to be rut easily with a. common knife. The workman then cuts them into lengths fitted for the purposes to which they are to be applied. They arc chiefly used in thin strips, such as stay-bones and umbrella-ribs, and can be easily split for such purposes, owing to their lamellar structure. Generally the boiling is combined with a dyeing. process. to make the whalebone perfectly black, which is preferred to the not agreeable natural captor. The quantity annually imported into Britain fluctuates greatly: between 1873 and 1877 the quantity varied from 3,500 cuts, to 1800 ewts., and the value from £05,000 to £-17.000.—St rips of rattan canes dyed black are used as a cheap kind of artificial whalebone, but the hest imitation is made of vulcanite or prepared eaoutchouc, which in many respects is superior to the real whalebone.