DOLPHINS 249 



and in China to-day as a drug. At Rosenberg is a 

 throne entirely made of those tusks, and Captain 

 Scoresby (Mr. R. Brown tells us*) had a bed made 

 from the same material. 



The genus PHOCsENA (true porpoises) have the 

 teeth sixteen to twenty-six in number ; their crowns 

 compressed, lobed. Pterygoids slightly developed 

 and far apart ; pre-maxillae with bosses in front of 

 nares. 



Vertebrae : 64-98 in number. Phalanges : I, 2-3. 

 II, 7-10. Ill, 6-8. IV, 3-5. V, 1-3. Dorsal fin 

 with a row of tubercles along its posterior margin. 



Of well-established species there would seem to be 

 three, which are the following : 



o 



Phocccna comnmnis, Lesson, f The Common Por- 

 poise may be thus distinguished from other members 

 of the genus Phoccena : Length, ^\ feet. No 

 beak. Dorsal fin triangular, anterior margin straight. 

 Pectoral fins ovate. Teeth, 26. Vertebrae : C. / ; 

 D. 12, 13, 14; L. 14, 15; Ca. 30-33 = 64-68. First 

 six cervicals fused. Young with 2-4 hairs. 



The common porpoise is a northern form, being 

 found in both Atlantic and Pacific. It reaches a 

 length of five to six feet and is generally blackish, but 

 whiter on the belly. The name of this dolphin has 

 been variously given as Porkpisce, Porpice, Porpesse, 



* "Cetaceans of the Greenland Seas," Proc. Zool. Soc., 1868, p. 554. 

 t Man. Mainm., 1827, p. 413. 



