CETACEA* 219 



Dolphin as peculiarly partial to children; and here we quote a 

 further incident from Pliny, which has pathos, whatever may be 

 thought of its truth. A Dolphin, which he says had penetrated 

 the Lake of Lucrinus, in Campania, every day received bread 

 from the hand of a child, answering to his call, and transporting 

 him on its back to school on the other side of the lake. This 

 intimacy continued for several years, when the boy dying, the 

 affectionate Dolphin, overwhelmed with grief, soon sunk under 

 its bereavement. 



Mnnodon. (Gr. [ibvog, monos, solitary ; oSovg, odous, a tooth.) 



Monoceros, the specific name is from Gr. {i6vog } (monos,) and 

 xegug, (keras,)horn. 



This is the Narwhal. (Nar, signifies in Icelandish, a horn ; 

 whal or wale is synonymous with our word, whale, and derived 

 from the same Teutonic root.) It is also called the Sea Uni 

 corn, or Unicorn Whale. This Whale has no teeth, prop 

 erly so called; it has, however, two tusks, one on each side the 

 head. Only the left tusk projects, (from the upper jaw of the 

 male,) the other remaining within the head, whence the name 

 Monoceros, or Unicorn. This horn, or tusk, is eight or ten feet 

 long, tapering, with a rope-like twist, to a point, and harder and 

 whiter than ivory. Formerly, the tusks brought a high price. 

 Many medicinal virtues were attributed to them. They are still 

 of value as an article of trade. The kings of Denmark are said 

 to have a magnificent throne made of these tusks, which is pre 

 served with great care, in the castle of Rosenburg. The length 

 of the Narwhal is from twenty to thirty feet, and, including the 

 tusk, between thirty and forty. It is thought the animal uses 

 the tusk to pierce the ice for the purpose of breathing, and also 

 in capturing the fishes on which it feeds. It usually precedes 

 the Mysticetus, both using the same kind of food. Hence, when 

 Greenlanders see unicorns, they prepare for fishing in earnest. 

 It is on record that the thick oak timbers of a ship have been 

 pierced by the horn. Sometimes the Narwhal drives it into the 

 sides of the huge whale, and greedily receives the oily blubber 

 which oozes from tho wounds thus inflicted. 



Dr. Scoresby describes the Narwhals as active and inoffen 

 sive, often sporting about his ship, sometimes in bands of about 

 twenty together, raising up their long tusks, and crossing them 

 with each other as if fencing. Our own lamented Kane says, 

 &quot;the play of a group of Narwhals is graceful, striking and 

 beautiful.&quot; The blubber yields a superior oil. This and the 

 fljsh also are highly valued by the Esquimaux and Greenlander. 

 Their tusks afford them wtupuuo of defence, and even the intes 

 tines thry use for lines. 



