NATURAL HISTORY. 197 



" An Antony it was, 



^ That grew the more by reaping : his delights 



"Were dolphin-like; they show'd his back above 

 The element they lived in." SPENSER. 



589. Why has the shape of the dolphin been frequently 

 and fancifully misrepresented ? 



From two probable anises. 1. The principal action of cetaceous 

 animals is the vertical plane, or upwards and downwards, while 

 that of the true fishes is in the horizontal. The dolphin if also a 

 very sportive animal, sometimes leaping entirely out of the water. 



2. The spouting of dolphins, in common with other cetacea, lent 

 itself naturally to the artistic mind in the construction and 

 adornment of ornamental fountains ; and once in the hands of 

 the sculptor, the true form of the animal was soon lost. 



590. The eye of a casual observer is. however, apt to be deceived in witnessing 

 these leaps, and the spectator imagines the back of a dolphin to be greatly curved, 

 while it is almost straight. The cause of this deception is in the eye following the 

 general curve in which the average mass of the body is carried during the leap ; 

 and, as the real shape is not very well seen while the animal is in motion, it ia 

 readily, and indeed necessarily, associated with this curve.* 



591. Why does the dolphin utter a sound somewhat resembling 

 the human voice ? 



Because it has lungs, and an air-tube leading to them. The 

 dolphin cannot exist long in the water without coming frequently 

 to the surface to exhale and inhale air ; and jt is in the performance 

 of this act that the sound is occasioned. 



502. No animal but man has the faculty of articulate speech ; which consists of 

 vowels pronounced by means of the larynx, and of consonants formed by the 

 tongue and the lips. The dolphin having no lips, and with a tongue not readily 

 moveable, cannot therefore articulate. 



593. Why is the porpoise said to "roll" f 



Because its mode of progression, in common with the other 

 cetacea, when near the surface of the water, consists of a series of 

 leaps, its body appearing and disappearing at intervals with a 

 wheel, or barrel-like .motion. 



Partington's " Cyclopaedia " 



