HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE -GOSSIP. 



35 



which is passing rapidly through the water, with as 

 much ease as if she were motionless, or chasing each 

 other playfully round and round the ship as she lies 

 becalmed, their white bellies glistening in the clear 

 sea, and frequently, apparently out of pure mad 

 delight, leaping completely out of the water, return- 



they just bring the blow-hole to the surface, breathe 

 without stopping, and continue the curve, till in due 

 course they reach the surface again. This is repeated 

 for the whole length of their spacious tank, or is 

 vajied by unexpected eccentricities, all indescribably 

 graceful. Under these favourable circumstances for 



Fig. 61. The Pilot Whale (GlobkepJiahts melas). 



Fig. 62. Common Dolphin (Dclp/ihuis delphis). 



Fig. 63. Bottle-nosed Dolphin (Delfhinus tursid). 



ing to their native element with a most determined 

 header. But it was not till I saw these animals in 

 the Brighton Aquarium that I fully appreciated the 

 beauty, and I may even say the poetry, of their 

 motion ; swimming along in a series of gentle curves, 



observation it is also clearly seen that the horizontal 

 tail is the propeller which gives the motion ; the 

 alternate upward and downward pressure of this 

 organ against the water evidently producing the 

 graceful mode of progression which is so difficult 



