C E T O L O Y. 





igy. thick on the back, but thinner on the bi lly. It is 

 ^^ "Y""*"'' not very productive of oil. The bones are employ- 

 ed by the Greenlanders lo form spears and other 

 warlike weapons, and the teeth resemble ivory. 



Species 2. r/r/seU-i- Trumpo, Blunt-headed Cacha- 



lot. 



Blunt- 



cachalot. 



PlATB 



.XIV. 

 Fig. 4. 



Macrcn-pha/its, Var. r Linn. Syst. Nat. 

 Dudlcit llalccnti, Klein, Miss. Pise. Blunt-headed 

 (.'(ic/iu'u!, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. Cachalot Trum- 

 po, La Ce>ede, p. 212. 



The length of this species is nearly sixty ffcet, arid 

 its breadth about fifteen. The head is of such an 

 enormous size as to equal the half of the whole ani- 

 mal. The upper jaw is at least five feet longer than 

 t'n. lower, round and obtuse at the snout, and about 

 tight feet deep (from crown to base). The louer 

 jaw is about ten feet long, very narrow, and having 

 about 18 teeth on each side, all pointing outwards. 

 There is a considerable convexity jiibt above the eye, 

 and a similar prominence below the articulation of 

 the swimming paws. The eye is many feet benind 

 the snout, but nearly in the middle of the breadth of 

 the upper jaw. 



The body is irregularly conical, with a prominence 

 on the back, and another on the belly just before the 

 anuv. The swimming paws are proportionally larger 

 than in the former species. The penis is eight feet 

 long, and the lobes of the tail measure fifteen feet 

 from tip to tip. The prevailing colour of the animal 

 is a blackish grey. 



This species yields a prodigious quantity of very 

 fine spermaceti, and its blubber is very productive of 

 oil of a finer quality than that of the Greenland 

 whale. 



(t is found both in the Greenland seas and in those 

 that wash the shores of New England ; and is occa- 

 sionally seen off the coasts of France and Britain. 

 One was taken near Bayonne in France in 1741, and 

 another was cast ashore on Blyth Sands on the Eng- 

 lish coast, in 1762. 



The blunt-headed cachalot is a bold and daring 

 animal, swims with great swiftness, and, when at- 

 tacked, turns on its assailants with open mouth. 



Species 3. Physeter Microps. Small eyed Cachalot, 

 or BWk headeu Spermaceti Whale. 



c ,i . Balccna Major in infrriore maxilla dentafa, denti- 

 Fmall-eyca , .. J f , .,. J ., . . 



cachalot. ** arcunlis, jalcijormilrus pinnam sice s/jiiiam in 



dorso habens Sibbald, Hialain. Raii, Syn. Pise. The 

 Parmaceity Whale, or Pottval Fish, Dole Harwich. 

 Physder dorso pinna longa, maxilla superiors, lon- 

 giore. Arted- Synop. Ctuftaiot, Ca/Otion. or Pot' 

 Jish, Crantz's Greenland. Great-headed Cachalot, 

 Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. Cachalot Miaops, Bon- 

 nat. Encycl. Method. Physettre Microps, La Ce- 

 pcde, p. 227. 



There is considerable confusion in the accounts 

 which various writers have given of this species. We 

 have, therefore, given numerous synommes, and shall 

 take our description of the animal from La Cepede. 



" The Physeter Microps, (says this author,) is 

 cne of the largest, most cruel, and most dangerous in- 

 habitants of the deep. Adding to formidable wea- 

 pons the two great sources of strength, bulk and ve- 

 locity, greedy of carnage, a daring enemy and an in- 



trepid light r ; what part of the ocean doe* be not Cetolojy. 

 btain with blood r" *"~~ ~ ~ 



Its head it BO enormous, as to equal the whole length 

 of the animal, independent of the tail fin ; and it it ai 

 large in circumference as any part of the body. The 

 upper jaw, though not extending quite so far ai the 

 snout, properly so called, is a little longer than the 

 lower jaw. The teeth which appear in this latter, 

 are conical, curved, hollow towards the roots, and set 

 into the jaw about two-thirds of their length. The 

 part beyond the gum is white like ivory, and its tip 

 acute, and curved first towards the throat, and then, 

 a little outwards. According to the most respecta- 

 ble naturalists, the teeth are 42 in number. The up- 

 per jaw has cavities for receiving the teeth of the 

 lower ; and between them there appear to be short 

 blunt teeth, almost entirely hidden by the gum. The 

 eye is extremely small. 



The swimming paws are about four feet long. The 

 dorsal fin is straight, high, and pointed. The whole 

 length of the animal usually exceeds 50 feet, and the 

 skin is of a black colour. 



It is found in the Arctic Ocean, and has occasion- 

 ally appeared in the North Sea. One is described 

 by Sir Robert Sibbald, as having been cast ashore on 

 the coast of Scotland ; and so lately as 1769, o/ie of 

 this species was btranded at Cramond, a little above 

 Leith, in the Frith of Forth, and attracted many 

 thousands of spectators from Edinburgh and the sur- 

 rounding country. La Cepede gives an account of 17 

 that appeared in 17^3, iu the mouth of the Elbe, and 

 were mistaken by the fishermen of Cuxhaven for so 

 many Dutch fishing boats. 



This animal attacks noi only porpesses and other 

 smaller cetacea, but even the largest species of balae- 

 nopterae, especially the pike-headed and piked whale, 

 on which it fastens with its crooked teeth, and tears 

 pieces from their bodies. It is said also to pursue 

 tht- young Greenland whale, which it compels to fly 

 for refuge through the boundless ocean. 



Its flesh is esteemed a great delicacy by the Green- 

 landers, and it yields a great quantity of spermaceti, 

 though but little oil. 



La Cepede supposes this animal to have been the 

 sea- monster from which Perseus delivered the fair 

 Andromeda ; and he labours to prove, that the Oreo. 

 described by Pliny, as having been attacked in the 

 port of Ostia, by the emperor Claudian at the head 

 of his troops, was not a Grampus, but a Physeter mi- 

 crops. 



ORDER IV. AMBIDENTATE CETACEA, 

 or those wilh teeth in both jaws. 



GENUS VI. DELPHINUS. Dolphins. 



THE animals of this genus are smaller than most Dolphin 

 of those of the preceding tribes ; the largest species genus, 

 scarcely exceeding 25 feet. Their jaws are lengthen- 

 ed considerably, but are of equal length, and are each 

 furnished with a row of conical teeth, more or less 

 numerous in the particular species. The blow-holes, 

 after traversing the upper jaw, unite without in a sin- 

 gle orifice, which is in the form of a crescent, and is 

 situated at the top of the head. Their eyes are si- 

 tuated near the angle of the mouth. All the species 

 but one are furnished with a dorsal tin, which is some- 



