DELPHIM1KK 



269 



Premaxillae strongly concave in front of the nures, as wide at the 

 middle of the rostrum as at the base, or wider, and very nearly or 

 completely concealing the maxillae in the anterior half of this 

 region. Pterygoids of normal form, meeting, or very nearly so, 

 in the middle line. Vertebrae: C 7, D 11, L 12-14, C 28-29; 

 total -">S or 59. Bodies of the anterior five or six cervical vertebrae 

 united. Leimth of the bodies of the lumbar and anterior caudal 

 vertebrae about equal to their width. Pectoral limb very long and 

 narrow, the second digit the longest, and having as many as 12 

 or 13 phalanges, the third shorter (with 9 phalanges), the first, 

 fourth, and fifth very short. Fore part of the head very round, in 

 consequence of the great development of a cushion of fat, placed 

 on the rostrum of the skull in front of the blowhole. Dorsal fin 

 low and triangular, the length of its base considerably exceeding its 

 vertical height. 



The type of this well-marked genus is 67. melas, the Pilot 

 Whale, Ca'ing Whale, or Grindhval of the Faroe islanders, which 

 attains the length of 20 feet, and is of nearly uniform black colour, 

 except the middle of the under surface, which is lighter. These 

 animals are extremely gregarious, and, unlike the Killers, are mild 

 and inoffensive in disposition, feeding principally on cephalopods. 

 Their eminently sociable character constantly leads to their destruc- 

 tion, since when attacked they instinctively rush together and 

 blindly follow the leaders of the herd. When they are seen in 

 the neighbourhood of land, the fishermen endeavour to 

 ward of them in their boats, and with shouting and 

 to drive them into a bay or fjord, pursuing them until they run 

 themselves on shore in their alarm. In this way many hundreds 

 at a time are frequently driven ashore 

 and killed, when a herd enters one of 

 the bays or fjords of the Faroe Islands 

 or north of Scotland. Animals of this 

 well-marked genus are found in nearly 

 all seas, and their specific distinctions 

 are not yet made out. Specimens from 

 the Australian coasts, where they are 

 generally called " Blackfish," are quite 

 indistinguishable, either by external or 

 osteolouical characters, from those of the 

 North Atlantic. 



Teeth, periotic (Fig. 96) and tym- 



get to sea- 



firing of 



guns 



panic bones from the Suffolk Crag, 



Fig. 90. — The left periotic bone 

 of Globiccpludus uncidens ; from the 

 Suffolk Crag. Natural size. The 

 grooved surface on the right is the 

 anterior facet for articulation with 

 the tympanic ; the posterior tym- 

 panic articulation being on the op- 

 posite side of the figure. (From the 

 Cat. Foss. Mamm. Brit. Mus. pt. v.) 



described as G. imcidens, indicate a form 

 apparently closely allied to the existing 



species. The periotic is figured in order to illustrate the dis- 

 tinctive characters of that bone in the DeVphinidce. 



