CHAPTER VI. 

 THE PORPOISES AND WHITE WHALES. 



laE COMMON PORPOISE — THE GRAMPUS, OR GLADIATOR DOLPHIN — ITS DESTRUCTIVENESS — ITS 

 NAME " THE THRESHER " — THE PILOT WHALE, OR CAAING WHALE, OR GRIND — MODE OF CAP- 

 TURING — THE WHITE WHALE — SPECIMENS EXHIBITED IN SHOWS. 



s 



OME of the Cetacea which form the subject of this chapter are 

 better and more widely known than any other, as many speci- 

 mens are seen in every inlet or bay of our sea coast. 



GENUS PHOC^NA. 



The members of this genus, which comprises two species, are distin- 

 guished from the dolphins by having the muzzle short and uniformly 

 rounded, instead of ending like a beak. Their size varies from six to 

 eight feet, the head is small, the body round and full anteriorly, but 

 compressed toward the tail ; the color is a black-brown, or black with a 

 greenish or violet reflection, with pure white on the abdomen. The 

 jaws are armed with about one hundred teeth. 



The Porpoise, Phoa^na communis (Plate XXVII), is the most familiar 

 of all the Dolphin fraternity. The name is a corruption from the 

 French Porcpoisson, or " Swine-fish," and it is curious to observe that 

 while we borrow a name from the French language, the French fisher- 

 men adopt a name of German or Scandinavian origin, and style the 

 animal Marsoidn, or " Sea-swine." 



The true home of the Porpoise is the northern portion of the Atlantic 

 Ocean, from Greenland to North Africa, the Baltic and the Mediter- 

 ranean Seas included. In the Pacific it extends down to the latitude of 

 the Japan Islands. It seems to undertake regular migrations, proceed- 

 ing- northward when summer comes, and seeking the south on the 



