24 



Of the AidhiU, which this species is said to be called in 

 Greenland, wonderful stories are told : the following is not 

 the most extraordinary. " Where these appear all the 

 seals disappear, else they make desperate slaughter among 

 them, for they have such sagacity and skill in catching 

 them with the mouth and fins, that they arc sometimes seen 

 loaded with five at a time, one in the mouth, a couple un- 

 der each fin and one under the back fin." — Craii/z, Green- 

 land, i. 116. 



Sibbald describes the comparatively small triangular 

 dorsal to be erect, like a " Mizam mast," which Artedi 

 and Linnajus translate pinna allissima, and caused Shaw 

 to call it the High-finned Cachalot. Dr. Fleming by mis- 

 take calls this species the Spermaceti Whale (Brit. A. 38); 

 and he refers to /'. macrocephalus (Linn.), as the true 

 Sperm Whale figured by Robertson. Sibbald, in speak- 

 ing of another specimen, says, "spinam dorso longam," 

 as correctly quoted by Artedi and Linnaeus, but used by 

 them in opposition to the altisaima of their other species. 



Colnett (Voy. S. Pacific) speaks of innumerable shoals 

 of Black-fish on the shores of California. 



Mr. Warwick informs me that there is a stuffed speci- 

 men of this Whale perambulating this country in three 

 caravans ; unfortunately I have never had the opportunity 

 of seeing it. 



There is an etching of Van den Veld, of a " Pot Wal- 

 vvesk op Noortwijek op Zee, 28 Dec. 1614," which I think 

 represents this species. 



In the Catalogue of the Museum of the College of Sur- 

 geons the truncated Whales' teeth are called "the teeth of 

 the High-finned Cachalot, P. Tursio?'' p. 171, n. 1189— 

 1194. And the small jaws of the Sperm Whale are called 

 "the Lesser Cachalot [Physeter Cafodon, Linn.)" Duha- 

 mel (Pech. iv. t. 9, f. 2) figured a whale from the " River 

 Gabon" in Guinea, with teeth in the lower jaw, a dorsal 

 on the hinder part of the back, and the blowers in the 

 crown, as in this genus ; but the jaws are equal, and the 

 mouth bent up at the angles to the eyes. He says it is 

 called Grampus by the Eugli.sh. 



Fam. .3. Delphinid.^:. Dolphins. 



Head moderate. Teeth in both jaws, rarely rudimen- 

 tary and early deciduous. Blowers united together, open- 

 ing in a single transverse or lunate opening on the crown 

 of the head. 



This family is easily known from the Toothed Whales, 

 or Cafodon lida, by the smaller and more proportionate 

 head ; and in those species which have lost their upper 

 teeth at an early age, by there being no regular series of 

 pits in the gum of the upper jaw for the reception of the 

 teeth of the lower one : and also by the hinder part of the 

 skull not being deeply concave, and surrounded on the 

 sides and behind by a high ridge. 



These animals when first born are large compared with 

 the size of the parents, (according to Dr. Knox, the foetus 

 of the porpesse is half the length, that is, one foin-th the 

 size of the parent before it is born, Trans. Hoy. Sac. Ed. 

 ii. 208) ; and they appear to attain their full size very ra- 

 pidly, which may account for the very slight difference to 

 be observed in the size of the skull, and the great unifor- 



mity in the number, and in the space which the series of 

 teeth occupy u]3on the edge of the jaws in different speci- 

 mens of the same species. Hunter thought the exact num- 

 ber of teeth in any species was uncertain ; observing the 

 teeth in the middle of each series were the largest and 

 the most firmly fixed, he states his belief that " the jaws 

 increased posteriorly and decay at the symphysis, and 

 while the growth is going on, there is a constant succes- 

 sion of new teeth, by which means the new-formed teeth 

 are proportioned to the jaw." — Phil. Trans. 1788, 398. 

 Dr. Fleming, from the examination of the jaws of two 

 porpoises of different ages, thinks " the jaws lengthen at 

 the symphysis and at the base ; " and that the new teeth 

 formed at these places are the smallest, and that there is 

 no absorption." — Fleming, Phil. Zool. ii. 208. This may 

 be the case with the specimens before they arrive at their 

 full size ; but no skull of this kind has fallen under my 

 observation : and as far as my experience will carry me, 

 I have foimd the numbers, size, and disposition of the 

 teeth, one of the most important characters for the deter- 

 mination of the species and the definition of genera. M. 

 F. Cuvier's remarks [Cetac. 103, 104) on the teeth as the 

 characters of genera are not consistent with my observa- 

 tions, but I have found them quite as characteristic of the 

 different genera as those of other orders of Mammalia, 

 though they do not present so many different forms. At 

 the same time, it is true, that compilers like Lesson, who 

 have not taken the trouble to examine a single skull, have 

 made far too many genera. And I may also observe that 

 the genera Phocana and Delphinapterus, as formed and 

 adopted by the Cuviers are founded on very slight charac- 

 ters, and bring together species that have very little relation 

 to each other. I have found it necessary, for the pin-pose 

 of more distinctly defining the species, to divide them into 

 into several new groups, which has enabled me to arrange 

 them into what appears to be a more natural series, and to 

 more nearly circumscribe the genera. 



My thanks are due to Dr. Richardson of Haslar, to Mr. 

 Brightwell and the Committee of the Norwich Philosophi- 

 cal Society, and to Mr. Bell, for allovving me to have at the 

 Museum for couqjarison the specimens of these animals in 

 the collections under their care; and to Mr. Owen and the 

 Council of the College of Surgeons, and to Mr. Fraser and 

 the Council of the Zoological Society, for permission to 

 examine the skulls in their Museums. 



The family is divided into sections by the form of the 

 skull, and these into genera by the form and disposition of 

 the teeth, and by the absence and presence of the dorsal 

 fin. 



A. Jaw-hones dilated on each side behind. 



a. Pectoral fin tapering. Jaw-bones produced and 

 bent up before the orbits. Teeth few. Hyperoo- 

 dontina. 



b. Pectoral fin truncated. Jaw-bone produced, bent 

 up over the orbits. Teeth many. Platanistina. 



B. Jaw-bone not bent up behind. 



a. Wing of jaw-bone horizontal. Head produced in- 

 into a beak. Teeth numerous. Delphinina. 



b. Wing of the jaw-bone horizontal. Head rounded. 

 Teeth numerous. Orcadina. 



