

CET.V 





n,I other fish ; and have been Men high in the Loire, CharenU, ud 



It hu been remarked that when the PorpeaM* are 



giunbolling in the spring and lummer, they appear hoodie** and blind 



to all danger and riak, which, as their brain ii highly developed, 



Teeth of Porpe (PAwa-no rommunu). F. Carter. 



strengthens the supposition that they are at such times actuated by 

 the sexual impulse to an extent that lessens their usual wariness. 

 On the 23rd May, 1842, we saw about 10 a.m. two rolling and sporting 

 a little above London Bridge, towards the Surrey shore. They seemed 

 to disregard the numerous steam-vessels which were constantly passing, 

 and to pay no attention to the wherries, some of which went close to 

 them. The man on the look-out in the steamer from whose deck we 

 watched them said that they had been seen between five and six that 

 morning near Southwark Bridge, and that one of them had been 

 hooked with a boat-hook, but had got away. It was blowing fresh 

 from the south-west, and the tide was running up : the time for high 

 water at London Bridge that day being 45 minutes after 12. 



The I'orpolw, or I'orpewe (Phocana communit). 



The oil procured from the fat surrounding the body of the Porpoise 

 i of the purest kind, and the akin when carefully tanned and dressed 

 is used for wearing apparel, and for coverings for carriages. The 

 shoal* of these creatures on the west coast of Ireland are immense, 

 and might be well worth the attention of the neighbouring popula- 

 tion if furnished with boats and proper implements for their capture, 

 and conversion to economic purposes. As an article of food the flesh 

 was anciently esteemed, and considered worthy of the tables of the 

 great. Receipts for dressing it appear in the ' Forme of Cury,' com- 

 piled (circ. 1390) by the master cooks of Kin liichard II. It appears 

 to have been served in ' furmcntc," in broth, and roasted, and was 

 evidently used both fresh and salted. Several of them were on the 

 board at the great feast holden at the ' intronazation ' of George 



1, archbishop of York, in the reign of Edward! IV. In i 

 V 1 1 1.'s time it continued to be a royal dish, and was in fashion in the 

 reign of Elizabeth. It appears to have been in those days generally 

 presented as a rout with a sauce made of fine white bread-crumb*, 

 mixed with vinegar and sugar. The Common Dolphin (A 



<) was then considered so great a delicacy that, according to 

 Dr. Caius, one which was taken in his day was thought a present 

 worthy of the duke of Norfolk, who distributed it amongst his 

 friends : it was routed and dreMed with the porpesse-saucc lout above 

 mentioned. At a later period the Porpeaae kept it* ground on the 

 table of Roman Catholics on fish-days and during Lent Nor have 

 modern navigators found it undesirable food. Captain Colnett's 

 people, who fell in with numbers of them off the Mexican coast, mixed 

 &M0 flesh with their salt-pork making excellent sausages, which 

 formed their ordinary food Captain Basil Hall speaks with some 

 unction of a dish of porpesse-cutleU, well separated from the invest- 

 ing lard and blublwr, which was served at his table with such li 11 py 

 effect that the dish left his cabin empty. 



The flesh of the porpeoe is the Oreenlander's great dainty, and lie 

 quaff* iU oil 0.1 the most delicious of draught*. 



Grampvt Cutieri is the JMpkintu gri*e*t of Cuvier ; Pkocana gritea 

 of Lesson. It is an inhabitant of the North Sea, and has been taken 

 ;!' the com.t of France, and also off the Isle 



<:. /Uaoanut. A specimen was taken at Nice, and described by 

 Risso. 



'.'. Hichardtonii. Described by Dr. Gray in the Zoology of the 

 Erebus and Terror. 



0'. Sakamoto. Described by ScUegel in 'Fauna Japonic*' as 

 Sakamoto Ku:ira. It has been found off the coasts of Japan. 



(ilobioffpkaltu Stineral, the Pilot-Whale, also known to sailors as 

 the Black Whale, Howling Wliale, Social Whale, and Bottle-Head. 

 It is the Detpkintu globicepi of Cnvier, the Narwal Edente an.i 

 Cachalot of the French. It is of a black colour, with a white 

 streak from throat to vent. It is a native of the North Sea, and has 

 been taken off the coast of Scotland. A skull in the British Museum 

 measures 28 inches in length. 



G. wtermediu* is the Black Fish of American sailors. It inhabits 

 the coasts of North America. 



G. afinu, the Smaller Pilot-Whale. Its locality is unknown. A 

 specimen exists in the museum of the College of Surgeons. It 

 Delphinut melat of Owen. 



G. Sieboldii is a native of the coasts of Japan, where it is called 

 Naiso-Gota. 



G. macrorhynchtu is the Black Fish of the South Sea whalers. It 

 inhabits the South Seas. 



Orca Gladiator, the Killer. It is the Delphinut Oreo of Liir 

 Gramptu of Hunter, Delphintu Grampiu, and Large Grampus, of Owen. 

 It inhabits the North Sea, and has been taken on various parts of the 

 British coasts. There is the skull of one in the Huntcrian ( '<>! : 

 at the Royal College of Surgeons which was killed :it (Iiv.-mvk-h in 

 1793. 



0. cratrideru is a fossil species. It is described by Professor Owen 

 in the ' British Mammals and Birds ' under the name of Phoctma era*- 

 tident. A skull was found in the fens of Lincolnshire in 1843. 



0. Capauu, the Cape Killer, is the Ddphiniu globiceja of Owen. 

 It inhabits the Southern Pacific Ocean. 



0. intermedia is a smaller species, described by Dr. Gray in the 

 Zoology of the Erebus and Terror. 



Lagenorhi/nrhut leueoplturui, the White-Sided Bottlenose. It is the 

 Ddphintu Turtio of Knox. It is a native of the North Sea. The 

 skeleton of a specimen taken in the Orkneys is in the museum of the 

 1'niversity of Edinburgh. 



L. albirotirii, White-Beaked Bottlenose. A specimen was taken off 

 the coast of Norfolk in 1846. 



L. KUctra, the Electro. Described by Dr. Gray in the Zoology of 

 the Erebus and Terror. 



L. c<rrulco albiu. It is an inhabitant of the east coast of BoOH 

 America Rio de la Plata. 



L. Alia. Described by Dr. Gray in the Zoology of the Erebus and 

 Terror. Locality unknown. 



L. actUvt. It inhabits the North Seas Faroe Islands. 



L. clanculta. Described by Dr. Gray from a skull brought from the 

 Pacific Ocean. 



L. ThicoUa. Described by Dr. Gray from a skull brought bran <h<> 

 west coast of North America. 



.hinaptenu Peronii. It ia the Right Whale-Porpoise of the 

 whalers. It is black, with the exception of the beak, pectoral fins, 

 aud under part of the body, which are white. It is found on the 

 Brazil Bank, off New Guinea, and in the higher southern latitudes. 

 There are two skullB in the museum at Paris. They live in large 

 shoals, and the flesh is esteemed a delicacy. 



D. borealit. It inhabits the North Pacific Ocean. It has been 

 described by Pealo in the United States Exploring Ex|-dition. 



'lintu. The English name for this genus i.- I tolpnin, but as Dr. 

 .1. I'. Gray observes: "Most maritime persons call these animals 

 Bottlenoses, Bottleheads, Flounderheads, Grampuses, Porpoises, Por- 

 peases or Porpusses, sometimes adding Whale to the name. They 

 generally confine the name of Dolphin (most used by landsmen) to 

 the Scomberoid Fish (Corypkeena), which changes colour in dying." 



II.VNA.] We subjoin a synopsis of the characters with the 

 localities of the species of this large genus : 



A. Head shortly beaked ; nose of skull moderate ; triangle or 1 

 part of beak elongate, produced before the teeth-line ; palate flat 



Teeth- 



Jl in. 

 t Beak scarcely produced ; nose of skull rather depressed, scarcely 



24 30 



longer than the brain cavity. Teeth 



1. Ddphinw Utatuidii, the Hastated Doiphin, inhabits the South 

 Sea Cape of Good Hope. 



2. D. obicuriu, Dusky Dolphin, inhabits the Southern Ocean 



8. D. comprtuicauda, the Compressed-Tailed Dolphin, inhabits 4 

 S. lat, 24 W. long. 



tt Beak short ; nose of skull rather thick, conical, convex above, 

 half as long as the head. 



Beak of skull rather thick and rather swollen on the 



4. D. Turrio, Bottlenose Dolphin, inhabits the North Sea. 



