164 CETACEA. 



Length over all in a straight line, 13 feet 4 inches 

 length following the curve of the back, 14 feet 5 inches ; 

 length of pectoral, 2 feet ; breadth of tail, 3 feet. 



The flesh is eaten by the inhabitants of the most northern 

 coasts. 



The Beluga is confined to northern latitudes ; is common 

 and gregarious on all the coasts of the Arctic Ocean, espe- 

 cially near the mouths of rivers, which it ascends for many 

 miles. It is a very rare visitor to the British Seas ; one 

 was taken in the Frith of Forth in the summer of 1815. 



Genus HYPEROODON. 



Snout produced and depressed ; the forehead much ele- 

 vated ; the teeth only two in number, in the anterior part 

 of the lower jaw ; a dorsal fin. 



Hyperoodon Butzkopf. 



Hyjyeroodon Butzkopf, Bell, Brit. Quad. 

 Deljphinus hyperoodon, Desm. Mamm. Sp. 784. 

 Hyperoodon bidens, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. 

 Heferodon diodon, Keys, und Blas. Wirbelth. Eiirop. 

 The Bottle-head. 



Description. — Two teeth only in the fore part of the lower 

 jaw ; the body elongated, its greatest circumference in the 

 region of the pectoral fin ; forehead high, very convex, 

 rising suddenly from the snout, which is short and de- 

 pressed, terminating in a kind of beak, somewhat like that 

 of the true Dolphins ; lower jaw rather longer and larger 

 than the upper ; teeth conical and pointed, sometimes 

 wanting, or not appearing above the gums ; palate studded 

 with little horny eminences, considered by Cuvier as rudi- 

 ments of whalebone ; eyes large, a little above the line of 

 the lips ; blow-hole crescent-shaped, with the horns directed 

 towards the tail ; dorsal fin placed considerably beyond the 



