observed on the coasts of Cornwall. 433 



in length : the pectorals not large ; the under jaw slender in 

 front, at which part were two blunt teeth, in size and form 

 resembling the eggs of the common Bantam fowl. It is said 

 that, at least sometimes, these teeth are imbedded in the gums. 



Genus Delphinus. 

 1. Delphinus, 



Dolphin. — D. Delphis, Linn., Fleming^s Brit. An. p. 35 ; 

 Jenyns' Manual, p. 40 ; BelFs Brit. Quad. p. 463 ; Gray's 

 Catalogue of Brit. Mus. p. 120. 



This very prettily marked species is the Dolphin of ancient 

 Roman and Greek writers, who tell surprising stories of its 

 affection for the human race, none of which, however, have been 

 verified in later ages. They come to our coasts in considerable 

 numbers, more especially when pilchards and mackerel abound; 

 and not unfrequently they are taken in the drift-nets, in the 

 meshes of which they become entangled by their teeth. In the 

 month of September 1845, so many as eight or ten in a day 

 were brought on shore in Mount's Bay, for many days in suc- 

 cession. 



Bottle-nosed Dolphin. — D. Tursio, BelPsBrit. Quad. p. 469; 

 Gray's Catalogue of Brit. Mus. p. 109. 



It seems probable that the figure in Borlase's ' Natural History 

 of Cornwall,' which he calls a porpoise, compared with his first 

 figure, of the true Dolphin, belongs to this species. That it is 

 furnished with a snout, is a proof that it is not the common 

 porpoise or sniffer, and the inferior dimensions of that part are 

 sufficient to show its distinction from the true Dolphin. This 

 species is not so beautifully marked with lines as the last-named; 

 the snout is much shorter; the upper jaw not so long as the 

 lower; the dorsal fin smaller, and more posterior, as I noticed 

 also in a specimen inspected at Plymouth. The eye also appears 

 smaller, and placed more directly over the angle of the mouth ; 

 the teeth small, conical, and twenty-three on each side. It is 

 not known in what respect its habits differ from those of the 

 more common Dolphin. 



Double-finned Dolphin. — D. Mongitori, Rafinesqae ? 



We are informed, in M. F. Cuvier's ' Hist, des Cetacees/ 

 that the French naturalists, MM. Quoy and Gaimard, when in the 

 South Sea, had an opportunity of observing in the water a kind 

 of Dolphin which they perceived to be furnished with two fins 

 on the back, one of which was so far backward as to be not far 



Ami. §• Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xx. 28 



