CKTV 



CETACEA. 



M 



1 of gestation, but F. Cnvier supposes it to be ten months. 

 A fu-tid Cachalot, dissected by Mr. Bennett, was 14 feet long and 

 t feat in circumference, deep black, mottled with whit* spot*. It* 

 position in the womb wan that of a bent bow. According to F. Cuvier, 

 the two brought forth by the Stranded Whale near D'Audierne, 

 were 10 or 11 feet long ; and Captain Colnett state* that the young 

 Sperm- Whale* which he saw in great numbers off the Galapogo* 

 Island* were not larger than a imall Porpesae. Mr. Beale'a own 

 obnerration* coincided with those of Mr. Bennett 



For many other habiU of thin whale, such a* ' breaching,' or leaping 

 clear out of the water and falling back again on it* side, so that the 

 breach may be seen in a clear day from the mast-head at a distance 

 of aix milea ; ' going head out,' a mode of progression which enables 

 it to attain 10 or 12 mile* an hour, which Mr. Beale believes to be its 

 greatest Telocity; 'lob -tailing,' or lashing the water with its tail; 

 and the vivid descriptions of the dangers and hair-breadth escapes 

 Mending its capture, we must refer to Mr. Beale' s book, which every 

 one who is anxious for information on this subject should read. 



This animal is an inhabitant of the north ; it has however been 

 found on the coasts of America, Japan, New Guinea, and Timor. It 

 has been frequently stranded on the British Islands. Twelve males 

 were caught at Walderwich on the Suffolk coast in 1788. There is a 

 skeleton of an adult at Burton-Constable Castle, near Hull, in York- 

 shire. It has been taken also near Teignmouth, in \Vhitstable Bay, and 

 in the Frith of Forth. 



The Spermaceti Whale (CatoJon macroetphalia). Beale. 



C. Oobuti, the Mexican Sperm-Whole, is an inhabitant of the North 

 Pacific, the South Seas, and equatorial oceans, and often referred to 

 the last species. 



C. polycyphtu, the South Sea Sperm-Whale, is found in the Southern 

 Ocean, and is also spoken of as the Cachalot, or Sperm- Whale. 



Kogia is the generic name given by Dr. J. E. Gray to a form of 

 whale with a shorter head, which has been taken at the Cape of Good 

 Hope. It has been sometimes regarded as the young of the Sperm- 



wi ,:. 



K. brmttpt, the Short-Headed Whale of Gray, is the only species, 

 and has been described from a single skull in the Paris Museum. 



PhyKttr is the generic term applied by Linnicus and many subse- 

 quent writers to the Sperm- Whale, but it was originally applied by 

 Artedi to the Black Fish, to which Dr. J. E. Gray has restored it in 

 the ' British Museum Catalogue.' 



P. Turrio, the Black Fish of Gray, is the PhytAer microp* and 

 P. Turrio of Artedi, and probably the Ddphinu* globieeps or D. Gram- 

 put of Cuvier. It is of a black colour. The teeth are from 1 1 to 22 

 on each side. It is an inhabitant of the North Sea. Two specimens, 

 62 feet in length, have been taken off the coasts of Scotland, and 

 were described by Sibbald. Of one of the specimens Sibbald observes, 

 " The size of the cranium may be estimated by the fact that four 

 men were seen inside it at one time extracting the brain, which con- 

 tained several cells or alveoli, like those which bees keep their honey 

 in, and in these were rounded masses of a white substance, which 

 upon examination were proved to be sperm. Some of this substance 

 was also found externally on the head, in some parts to the thickness 

 of two feet." 



The family of DELpnrsroj!, or Dolphins, are more numerous than 

 those of the other Cctacea. They are distinguished from the last 

 family by the smaller and more proportionate head ; and in those 

 species which have lost their upper teeth at an'early age, by there 

 being no regular pits in the gums of the upper jaw for the reception 

 of the teeth of the lower one ; and also by the hinder part of the 

 skull not being deeply concave, and surrounded on the side* and 

 behind by a high ridge. 



The following is a synopsis of the genera and sub-families of this 

 extensive family: 



A. Jaws tapering; the symphysis of the lower jaw short, not half 

 the length of the jaw. Dorsal fin generally distinct ; pectoral fin 

 ovate, acute. Marine. 



a. Upper jaw toothless ; lower jaw with only one or two teeth 

 (which are often hidden in the gums) on each side. Beak of the 

 skull keeled on each side, the keel being sometimes large, and forming 

 a kind of reflexed wing on each side ; head with a short beak. 

 Ilyptroodontuta. 



1. Ilyperoodon. The beak of the upper jaw with a large erect 

 wing-like expansion in front of the blowers; lower jaw with two 

 rudimentary teeth in front. 



2. Ziphitu. Beak of upper jaw keeled on each side ; lower jaw 

 broad, bent down in front with large compressed teeth in the middle 

 of each itde. 



5. Dtlphinwkynckui. Beak of upper jaw keeled on each side ; 

 lower jaw nearly straight, with two or three small rudimentary 

 conical teeth in the middle of each side. 



6. Upper and lower jaw with few or deciduous teeth. Wings of the 

 maxillary bones expanded and shelving downwards. The beak short, 

 ileflcxed. Forehead convex. Head rounded, without any beak. 



* Lower jaw toothless. 



4. Monodon. Upper jaw of males with one or two very long 

 projecting spirally-twisted tusks. Dorsal fin none. 



** Upper and lower jaw with conical, early deciduous teeth. 



5. Beluga. Dorsal fin none. 



Upper and lower jaw with compressed permanent teeth. 



6. Neomeri*. Dorsal none. 



7. Phocama. Dorsal triangular, in the middle of the back. 



e. Upper and lower jaw with many teeth, rarely deciduous with 

 age. Wings of the jaw-bone horizontally produced over the orbits. 



* Head rounded in front, not beaked. Nose of skull scarcely so 

 long as the brain-cavity. Dorsal distinct. 



8. (h-amput. Teeth conical, truncated, early deciduous. Inter- 

 maxillories broad. Pectoral ovate. 



9. Globiocephaltu. Teeth conical, deciduous when old. Int. i- 

 maxillaries very broad. Pectorals narrow, linear. 



10. Oreo. Teeth conical, acute, permanent Intennaxillaries 

 moderate. Pectorals ovate. 



" Head beaked. Noseof skull as long asorlongerthan bruin-cavity. 



11. Laytnorhynchut. Head shelving in front Dorsal rotlier 

 posterior. Nose of skull depressed, expanded. 



12. Ddphinapttfiu. Head rather convex in front. Dorsal iMMe. 

 Nose of skull rather depressed, convex above. 



13. Drtphlniu. Head rather convex in front Dorsal medial. 

 Nose of skull rather depressed, convex above. 



14. Sleno. Head rather convex in front Dorsal medial. Nose of 

 skull compressed, higher than broad ; symphysis of lower jaw rather 

 elongate. 



15. Por.toporia. Head rather convex in front Dorsal medial. Nose 

 of skull rather compressed ; high symphysis of lower jaw very long. 



S. Jaws much compressed ; symphysis of the lower jaw very long. 

 Dorsal none. Teeth in both jaws. Fluviatile. 



<l. Skull with the maxillary bones simple, expanded over the orbit 

 Teeth conical. Paddles ovate or oblong. Iniana. 



16. Into. Teeth rugose; the hinder ones with a rounded tubercle 

 on the inner side. 



e. Skull with the maxilliary bones bent up in front of the blowers, 

 and forming a vault The teeth compressed. The jmddles fan- 

 shaped, truncated at the end. PUUanittimt. 



17. Plaianitta. 



Jfypfroodon JJttiziopf, the Bottle-Head. It is the Flounder's Head of 

 Dale, in his ' History of Harwich,' where it has been taken. Pennant 

 calls it the Beaked Whale. It inhabits the North Sea. 



Jl. roitratum, the Beaked H yperoodon, is an inhabitant of the North 

 Sea. It differs from the last species in having the dorsal fin behind 

 the middle of the back. It has been taken in the Thames ami Die 

 Humber, and skeletons exist in the museums of Edinburgh, ]' 

 and Liverpool. 



Two other species of Hyperoodon are described by l'i. .'. I' 

 //. Deimtirettii and //. latifront. The latter is a native of the N i;li 

 Sea, and has been taken on the coast of Lancashire. 



/.i/iliiut Sowerbienri* is the Phyteter btden* of Sowcrby, the / 

 laden* of BelL The head of a specimen caught in Scotland i- nnv in 

 the museum at Oxford. Dr. Gray observes that " it belongs to the 

 genus Ziphiut of Cuvier, before only known in the fossil state; mid 

 the examination of the skull has proved the accuracy of 

 determinations." 



'/.. Srchellrnti*, named from a skull iu the museum at Paris brought 

 from the Sochellca. 



lii/l'hinorhynchiu micropterut was first described by De Blainville. 

 It inhabits the seas of the coasts of Europe. 



Monodon monocerot, the Narwhal, Unicorn, or Unicorn-Whale. It 

 is the Monodon mierocrpHaliu and Narwhaitu Andtrionia, 

 Degmarest. When young it is black, but when old it is whitish 

 marbled. Although it has sometimes two tusks, it has more frequent ly 

 one, from which it derives its name of Unicorn. It inhabits the 

 Northern Ocean, and is not unfrequent on the coast of Scotland. 



Tho use of the tusk has been a matter for discussion. Dr. Scoresby 

 has expressed an opinion that as the end of the tusk is smooth .-mil 

 clean, while the rest of it is rough and dirty, and as a broken tusk 

 was found rubbed and rounded, it may be used to pierce thin li 

 the purpose of enabling the animal to respire without the necessity 

 of retreating into open water. Again, he states that his father sent 

 him the contents of a Narwhal's stomach, consisting of several half- 

 digested fishes, with others of which the bones only remained. There 

 were the remains of a cuttle-fish, part of the spine of a flnt-fish, pro- 

 bably a small turbot, and a skate almost entire. The lost was tv. 

 three inches in length, and one foot eight inches injbroadth, comprising 



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