CETOLOO Y. 



Grampus 



arc said to change their colour before they die, and 

 again after they arc dead : but this is probably a 

 mistake, arising from a different reflection of the rays 

 of light, when the body is in motion, or at rest. 



At present the dolphin is scarcely sought after as 

 an object of traffic. Some centuries ago, however, 

 its flesh was reckoned a great delicacy ; and we are 

 told by Dr Caius, that one taken in his time was 

 deemed worthy of being presented to the Duke of 

 Norfolk, who distributed part of it among his parti- 

 cular friends. It was roasted, and served up with 

 porpesse sauce. It is now seldom eaten, except when 

 young and tender. The best parts are next the head, 

 the rest being dry and insipid. 



Perhaps no animal has been more celebrated among 

 the ancient poets and naturalists than the dolphin. 

 It has been held forth as the emblem of affection 

 and philanthropy ; was honoured with the title of 

 sacred, and consecrated to the gods, on account of its 

 fondness for the human race. Among other instan- 

 ces, the preservation of Arion the musician, so pret- 

 tily described by Ovid in his Fasti ; and the story 

 of Hippo, of whom a dolphin was enamoured, so 

 beautifully related by the younger Pliny in his Epistles, 

 book ix. epist. 33, may be recalled to the notice of 

 our readers, though our limits do not permit us to 

 dwell on these amusing fables. Those who incline 

 to give them a fuller examination, may be referred to 

 Pliny's Natural History, and the writings of Athe- 

 nxus and 



Species 3. Delphinut Orca, the Grampus. 



L'oudre ou grand marsouin, Belon, Hist, des 

 Poissons. Bulccna minor utraque maxilla dcntata, 

 Sibbald, Phalain. Delphinus roslro sursum repando, 

 dentibus latis serratis, Artedi, Syn. Grampus, Pen- 

 nant, Brit. Zool vol. iii. ; Shaw, Gen. Zool. vol. ii. 

 part 2. Dauphin Orque, La Cepede, Hist. Nat. des 

 Cetaces, p. 298. 



This is one of the largest species of dolphin, 

 usually measuring from fifteen to twenty-five feet. 

 It is also remarkably thick in proportion to its length, 

 being from ten to twelve feet diameter in the thickest 

 part of the body. From this clumsiness of figure, 

 it has been called by Pliny an immense heap of flesh 

 armed with dreadful teeth : cujus imago nulla repre- 

 sentationc cxprimi jxjssit alia, quam carnis tmmensi 

 dentibus truculentis. 



In this species, the lower jaw is usually broader 

 than the upper ; and the snout is described by most 

 writers as having a turn upwards, though this cir- 

 cumstance is not noticed in the description of La Ce- 

 pede. Each of the jaws has thirty teeth ; of which 

 the foremost are blunt, round, and slender ; those 

 behind, sharp and thick. The description of the 

 teeth given by Artedi and Linne, viz. that they are 

 broad and jagged, or serrated, seems to be erroneous, 

 and descriptive rather of the shark than the gram- 

 pus. According to La Cepede, the number of teeth 

 varies according to the age of the animal. 



The dorsal tin is of considerable length, often 

 measuring, according to Dr Shaw, six feet, though 

 La Cepede describes it as not so long. The swim- 

 ming paws are broad, and nearly of an oval form. 



The prevailing colour of the grampus, like that of 

 most other dolphins, is black on the back, and of a 



snowy whitone < on the belly, while the sides are 

 marbled with white and black ; and there is usually 

 a large white spot on each shoulder, or a little be- 

 hind each eye. 



This species inhabits both the northern and south- 

 ern oceans, is not urifrequently seen in the Medi- 

 terranean Sea, and has often been observed in the 

 British Channel. 



This is the most ferocious of the cetaceous animals. 

 It spares neither friend nor foe, making prey alike 

 of small fish, seals, porpesses, and dolphins. It u 

 said also to attack the Greenland whale, though, ac- 

 cording to the latest and best accounts, it is not the 

 grampus, but the next species, which attack that 

 monster of the deep in packs, as bull dugs bait ft 

 bull. The grampus is exceedingly active, and scarce- 

 ly remains a moment above water; but sometimes, in 

 its eager pursuit of prey, it is thrown off its guard, 

 and allured into vhe shallows. Under these circum- 

 stances, the voracious animal frequently continues to 

 flounder about, either till he is knocked on the head 

 by those who have observed him, or is extricated 

 from his perilous situation by the tide's coming to 

 his relief. 



Waller, in one of his poems, has recorded a beau- 

 tiful example of parental affection in the grampu . 

 A female of this species and a cub having got into 

 an arm of the sea, were deserted by the tide, and be- 

 ing observed in this situation from the shore, a num- 

 ber of men came down to attack them. Both animals 

 were soon wounded in several places, so that the water 

 was dyed with their blood. They made every effort to 

 escape ; and the old one, by superior strength, forced 

 herself over the shallow into the deep water, but, in- 

 stantly recollecting that she had left her young one 

 in the hands of assassins, she rushed back, and seem- 

 ed resolved, if she could not prevent the murder of 

 her cub, that she would at least share its fate. Hap- 

 py for the catastrophe of the tale, she succeeded in 

 her endeavours, and the tide flowing in at the moment, 

 carried them both off in triumph. 



It does not appear that the grampus is in any re- 

 quest, even for its oil. Like the wolf among qua- 

 drupeds, he seems to be the enemy even of his own 

 species, and his carcase is of no value after he is 

 dead. 



There are several varieties of this species. One of 

 these is described and figured by Mr John Hunter, 

 in the 77th volume of the Philosophical Transac- 

 tions ; and another by Mr Patrick Neill, in hi-. Tour 

 through some of the Islands of Orkney and Shetland. 

 This latter variety is called among those islanders 

 the ca'ing whale, and has several marks that dis- 

 tinguish it from the ordinary grampus. The nose 

 has no spreading or turning upwards ; the upper jaw 

 is broader than the lower ; it has commonly only 

 twenty-four teeth in each jaw ; its swimming paws 

 are long and narrow ; the dorsal fin scarcely exceeds 

 two feet in length ; there is no white spot behind the 

 shoulder, or near the eye, and it is often entirely 

 black. It is also capable of remaining ten or fifteen 

 minutes at the surface of the water, and is described 

 as being a harmless inoffensive creature. From all 

 these considerations, Mr Neill is disposed to regard 

 it as a distinct species ; but as his description is 

 drawn, not from personal observation, but from the 



