THE ANIMAL LIFE OF THE GROUP. 301 



arched back surmounted by the curved fin; at another the white belly will 

 flash in the sunlight as the creature swims along in a series of graceful curves 

 in the surface water. Not infrequently scores of them will be seen swimming 

 antl leaping about a vessel for hours together. It is then that the voyager 

 is often given his first opportunity to see a harpoon thrown from the bow of 

 the vessel. Perhaps if a successful thrust is made, one of these odd mammals 

 will he brought on deck, w^here it can be examined at close range. 



The term dolphin is rather loosely used and is sometimes applied to a 

 fish, sometimes to a narwhale, but more often to the grampus or killer. The 

 name propei-ly belongs to a genus of animals world-wide in their distribution, 

 of which the common dolphin,^^ ^ species that abounds in all temperate and 

 tropical seas, may be considered as typical. But as there are several closely- 

 related species, it is difficult to identify them in the water or to separate them 

 from the porpoises without specimens and recourse to extended technical 

 descriptions. 



AVilALES. 



It should be stated in this comu-ction that the waters of the Pacific are 

 inhabited by several species of whales, of which the right whale or whalebone 

 whales,^'' with three or more wide-ranging species, are the most important. 

 However, the sperm-whale or cachlot •''" and the humpback ^^ are perhaps the 

 most common. In times past the pursuit of whales and the whaling industry 

 was a matter of great commercial imi)ortnnce to the Hawaiian Islands. 



Although by their mode of life they are far removed from observation, 

 whales are in many respects the most interesting of all creatures, and there is 

 much in their habits worthy of study. The whalebone, or Arctic right whale *^, 

 attains, when full grown, a length of from forty-five to fifty feet. The head is 

 enormous in size, exceeding one-third the length of the creature. The i;pper 

 jaw resembles nothing so much as a large spoon. The whalebone blades acquire 

 a length of ten or twelve feet; there being about 380 on each side of the 

 upper jaw. These blades are black in color, fine and elastic in texture, and 

 fray out on their inner edges and ends into soft, delicate hairs. The remark- 

 able development of the mouth and of the various structures connected with 

 it bear a close relation to the food habits of this whale. By means of the seine 

 or seive-like apparatus just described, it is possible for these animals to cap- 

 tm'e the minute forms of life which swarm in immense numbers in tlu' sens it 

 frequents. The elastic whalebone of commerce has long been a valuable com- 

 modity, and many a fortune has been made from the whaling business. In 

 recent years, owing to the decrease in the number of whales, the price of 

 whalebone has been as high as twelve thousand dollars per ton. 



The sperm-whale, or palaoa of the natives, is the largest representative of 

 the toothed whales, and in length and bulk it somewhat exceeds that of the 



' Delphinns detpftis. ^i jjfiffpita spp. •"'•' Phij)*i'i<>r mnrrocephahtit. ^rt jftyaptf 



^ Balmna mysticetus. 



