32 MEMOIR OP 



order, we shall supply the account of the dolphin. 

 " It has neither ears nor apertures in place of ears, 

 yet it hears, which, indeed, is wonderful. It has no 

 appearance of an olfactory organ, and yet has a very 

 acute smell. The snout is flat, the mouth under the 

 snout, and almost in the middle of the abdomen . It 

 has a tongue like that of a pig, has no branchiae, but 

 a blow-hole ; it has lungs, but no gall ; it has bones, 

 but no spines ; it has a broad flat back ; it is covered 

 with a strong hide or skin. It produces its young 

 in the tenth month, during summer, and sometimes 

 two at a birth ; its aff*ection towards its young and 

 those of its own kind is remarkable ; it grows during 

 ten years, and lives for thirty. Whenever it touches 

 iand it dies ; it belongs to the class cetacea ; it 

 seems a terrestrial and aquatic animal ; it breathes 

 like man and groans ; raising its blow-hole above 

 the surface of the water, it there sleeps, breathing 

 while sleeping ; it is carnivorous and seizes its prey 

 only when it turns upon its back. It is the s^^dftest 

 of all animals, and is supposed to be in continual 

 motion. It is soothed by music, is very friendly to 

 man, is mindful of kindness conferred. It fishes for 

 its prey in company with men ; and is very sagacious 

 in swimming, in foreseeing a storm, also when it is 

 caught, and in preparing a place for its burial. It 

 is accounted a sacred fish ; the reason why it is 

 regarded agreeable to Neptune ; it is the king of 

 fishes ; in what manner it fights with the Amia ; 

 how it kills the crocodile in the Nile; it conceals 

 itself in the dog-days ; where and by whom it has 



