The Sydney gazette and New South Wales advertiser/Volume 31/Number 2292/Death and extermination to all whales
DEATH AND EXTERMINATION TO ALL WHALES.
To the Editor of the Sydney Gazette.
SIR,
As we have learned from some of our friends, a Captain of a whaler, now in our port, a very clever gentle man, will try in his next trip a new method to kill whales; there shall be made a cavity in the harpoon, in which shall be lodged certain quantity of Prussic acid, which will influx into the wound of the animal by the opening of a valve. One of the objections which will arise is that, if the blood of the whale thus poisoned will not be injurious to the sailors who handle the animal, if they should happen to be wounded.—The idea has been happily conceived, and now it is to be investigated:-1st. What quantity of th Prussic acid is sufficient to kill a whale by its immediate Immission into the wound; because–2dly. If the quantity of the Prusssic acid required be a small, it is certain, that by the dilution of the acid in the immense mass of blood which these animals contain, the poisonous quality of the acid will be altogether obliterated. We remember to have assisted a whaling party on the offing of Bahia, and we can assure our readers, that the ocean was verbally dirty by the immense mass of blood, mucus, and fat, which these giants lost; and we are proud of every discovery made by persons belonging to our community. We beg your insertion of these lines in your next Sydney Gazette.
Believe me, Sir, truly yours,