Monodon. MAMMALIA. CETACEA. 37 



This species varies much in size. That of Dale, taken near Maldon 1717, 

 was 14 feet long, and 7i in circumference. The one described by Hunter, 

 taken above London Bridge 1783, was 21 feet long. The one figured by 

 Sowerby, found near Brodie House, Elginshire, by James Brodie, Esq. was 

 1G feet "long, and 11 in circumference. One of the individuals mentioned in 

 the second edition of the British Zoology, taken in the Dee near Chester, 

 October 1785, was 24 feet long, and 12 in "circumference. Two others, left 

 on the sands below Aber, Carnarvonshire, 1799, measured, the one 27 feet, 

 the other 18, and the breadth of the tail of the largest was 6 feet. Sowerby 

 says, " Head accumulated. Lower jaw blunt, longer than the upper, with 

 two short, lateral, bony teeth. Upper jaw sharp, let into the lower one by 

 two lateral impressions corresponding with the teeth. Opening of the mouth 

 1 foot 6 inches. Tongue smooth, vascular, small. Throat -very vascular, 

 rough. Under the throat are found two diverging furrows, terminating below 

 the eyes, which are small, and placed 6 inches behind the mouth." Hunter 

 observes, that there are only two small teeth in the anterior of the lower 

 jaw, and that in the stomach he found the beaks of some hundreds of cuttle- 

 fish. 



Gen. XXXV. MONODON. Narwal.— A straight tooth, 

 projecting antealiy from one side of the upper lip and jaw. 

 Destitute of a dorsal fin. 



56. M. Monoceros. Body subcorneal, head blunt, with a 

 ridge extending from the tail to the middle of the back. 



Unicornu marinum, Tulpius, Obser. Med. p. 376. tab. xviii — Mon. nion. 



Sowerby, Brit. Misc. tab. ix Small-headed Narwal, Fleming, Wern. 



Mem. vol. i. p. 131. tab. vi Narwal, Scoresby, Arct. lleg. vol. i. p. 486. 



tab. xv. £1.8, 



Three individuals appear to have been found on the British shores. The 

 one noticed by Tulpius, as found in June 1648, " in man aquilonari, prope 

 insulam Mayam," (usually considered as the May), was 22 feet long ; but in 

 this, the horn, which projected 7 feet, was probably included. The second 

 individual was found 15th February 1800, at Frieston, near Boston, Lin- 

 colnshire. According to information which I received from Sir Joseph 

 Banks (who had communicated his remarks to Lacepede, which, however, 

 were misinterpreted, see Wern. Mem. i. p. 147), in a letter dated 19th 

 January 1809, " The animal, when found, had buried the whole of its 

 body in the mud of which the beach there is composed, and seemed safely 

 and securely waiting the return of the tide. A fisherman, going to his boat, 

 saw the horn, which was covered up, and trying to pull it out of the mud, 

 raised the animal, who stirred himself hastily to secure his horn from the at- 

 tack." This specimen is stated to have been 25 feet in length, of which the 

 tooth probably constituted 7- Sowerb}' in his drawing (which is equally bad 

 with that of Lacepede Hist. Nat. des Cet. p. 159. tab. v. f. 2.), has added, from 

 fancy, a second horn or tooth. The third individual, a male, found 2/ th 

 September 1808, at the Sound of Weesdale, Zetland, has been described by me 

 in the Wernerian Memoirs. It was a young animal, only measuring, from 

 the snout to the tail, 12 feet, with a tooth projecting 27 inches. The length 

 of this animal seldom reaches to 16 feet, and the circumference 9 feet. The 

 forehead rises suddenly from the short snout, the outline then becomes 

 slightly elevated over the blow-hole, after which a slight depression marks the 

 neck. The first half of the body is nearly cylindrical, the remaining portion 

 to the tail, conical. In this latter portion there is a dorsal and ventral low 

 ridge, and less distinctly marked lateral "dges, giving it a subquadrangular 



