structural defects or aberrations occur. The sperm whales do not "teethe" until several years after weaning, therefore untoward wear patterns occur only after the teeth have erupted into the oral cavity. Invasive diseases of the teeth or gross anatomical responses to physical or biological irritants can occur during or after dental eruption.
The crowns of these two specimens are fused together {conjoined or geminated). The roots, the last to be formed embryologicaliy, are bifurcated mesially and distally (forward and aft along the length ofthe jaw). Note a shiny wear pattern seen at the tip of the tooth (above), indicating that it had been in occlusion with a very hard substance in the maxillary socket over a long p eriod oftime.
Whale teeth were hard, heavy, almost indestructible, transportable, and relatively small, occupying little sea chest space and "off-watch canvas" of the scrimshander. To make scrimshaw, the teeth were first soaked in brine, then scraped smooth with a knife. The polishing was done using a piece of shagreen, or rough sharkskin. The tooth could then be readily etched with a sharp nail or knife point. When teeth are relatively freshly harvested, they are comparatively soft. The scrimshander penciled a sketch on the tooth, often a portrait or scene copied from a magazine or book. The design was then etched into the tooth with a variety of homemade sharp instrumen rs. Various coloring agents, lampblack, sealing waxes, fruit and vegetable dyes, tea, etc., were frequently rubbed into the tooth to highlight the drawing. Melville addressed the art of the scrimshander as follows: Throughout the Pacific, and also in Nantucket, and New Bedford, and Sag H arbor, yo u will come across lively sketches of whales and whaling-scenes, graven by the fishermen themselves on Sperm Whale-teeth, ... skrimshander articles, as the whalemen call the numerous little ingenious contrivances they elaborately carve out of the rough material, in their hours of ocean leisure. Some of them have little boxes of dentistical-looking implements, specially intended for the skrimshandering business. Bur, in general, they roil with their jack-knives alone; and, with that almost omnipotent tool of the sailor, they will turn yo u our anything yo u please, in the way of a mariner's fancy. -Moby-Dick, "OfWhales in Paint; In Teeth; In Wood; In Sheer-Iron; In Stone; In Mow1rains; In Stars"
Man, as a hunter, has traditionally collected the teeth of the animals that he has slain to make an animistic religious amulet or souvenir of the successful hunt. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, sperm whales were a prime target for hunting at sea. 1he animal's anatomical parts were very valuable, particularly the spermaceti found in the whale's case. As Elmo P. Hohman describes the practice in The American Whaleman: A Study of Life and Labor in the Whaling I ndustry: "The jaw, with its heavy, white bone and huge, glistening teeth, had no commercial value; but both bone and teeth formed the raw material for numerous objects which resulted from long hours of 'scrimshawing,' and therefore an adequate supply was always kept on board. " The second mate distributed teeth and jawbone to the crew for their long, often boring, idle hours. There was a marker for whale's teeth to make cane handles, piano keys, finials, and even poker chips, ere., but this was a minor enterprise.
SEA HISTORY 128, AUTUMN 2009
This work ofscrimshaw depicts a harpooned sperm whale wreaking havoc on the men in the whaleboats. Many a scrimshander etched scenes oftheir life and work on the teeth of their prey.
Pacific Islanders, primarily those in Fiji, modified whale teeth for use as a form of money. These "rabua" (a word whose original m eaning was "sacred object") were not just currency for exchange, but they represented the currency of life, particularly for expressing esteem and ato nement. Ir was used as a dowry when seeking a wife, paym ent when forming an inter-tribal request, an apology, an appeal ro the gods for a favor, or as a sympathy offering to the bereaved. W hale-tooth tabua was prepared by soaking it in oil, so rhar smoke wo uld more effectively stain the roorh's surface. This
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