703 



DOLPHIN DOMAIN. 



smooth, soft, with a layer of very white fat or blub- 

 ber under it; liver large, yielding a larger quantity 

 of oil Uian the blubber. The orifice from whence the 

 water, inspired by the mouth, is ejected, is of a semi- 

 lunar form, with a kiiul of valvular apparatus, and 

 opens on the vertex, nearly over the eyes. The 

 volume and development of the brain liave induced 

 naturalists to consider the dolphin an animal of un- 

 usual intelligence, and capable of feeling an attach- 

 ment to man. Many stories are related of its doci- 

 lity, but, unfortunately, want confirmation. 



The skeleton presents a modification of the prin- 

 cipal bones of the higher manuuifera, and the absence 

 ofmany of minor importance. The structure of the 

 ear renders the sense of hearing very acute, and the 

 animal is observed to be attracted by regular or 

 harmonious sounds. Owing to the flattened form of 

 the cervical vertebrae, which amount to seven, the 

 neck is very short, and, the two first being immova- 

 bly connected, the motion is very limited. A single 

 bone, composed of or replacing those of the arm, is 

 the support of the pectoral fins: it articulates with a 

 peculiar shaped scapula, and the muscular arrange- 

 ment is such as to give the fin great force. The 

 whole number of vertebrae amounts to fifty-three, the 

 sacrum being produced to support the tail. Com- 

 pactness and strength are the characteristics of the 

 genus, and the muscular powers of the tail are pro- 

 verbial. The food of the dolphin consists of fish, 

 mollusca, &c. ; and shoals of dolphins are observed 

 to hover round the herring and other fisheries, in 

 pursuit of their prey. When one of a shoal is struck, 

 the rest are observed to pursue it immediately, pro- 

 bably for the purpose of devouring the wounded ani- 

 mal. One or two young are produced by the female, 

 who suckles and watches them, with great care and 

 anxiety, long after they have acquired considerable 

 size. It is stated by some authors, that they cease 

 growing at ten years of age, and live eighty or a 

 hundred years. The dolphin, respiring by lungs, and 

 not in the manner of fishes, is compelled to rise to 

 the surface, at short intervals, to breathe, throwing 

 out the water from the blow-hole, or aperture on the 

 head, like a cloud of steam. The colour varies in 

 different individuals: some are black, olive, or gray, 

 and others mottled, or even quite white. The inha- 

 bitants of ancient Byzantium and Thrace pursued a 

 regular fishery of the dolphin, destroying them with 

 a kind of trident attached to a long line. Figures of 

 this animal are found on antique coins, and very 

 good representations of it occur on the Corinthian 

 medals. 



DOLPHIN of navigators ; a fish, the coryphcena 

 hippuris of authors; celebrated by travellers and poets 

 in their marvellous recitals of its changes of colour 

 when expiring. Such changes do occur, and are 

 curious, but by no means so much so as romantic 

 travellers would have us believe. The colour of the 

 dolphin is silvery white, spotted with yellowish. 

 Body compressed, elongate, gradually decreasing 

 from the front (which is very obtuse) to the tail; 

 dorsal fin extending from the nape nearly to the 

 caudal ; caudal fin large, furcate ; anal nearly reach- 

 ing the base of the caudal; pectorals somewhat 

 falciform ; length usually four or five feet, though 

 specimens of six feet in length are occasionally 

 taken. Few fish are more agile, or swim with 

 greater velocity. They abound within the tropics, 

 and are found in all temperate latitudes. In the 

 neighbourhood of the equator, they commit great 

 havoc in the immense shoals of flying fish which 

 inhabit those regions, and which constitute the 

 principal food of the coryphana. It is remark- 

 able that, in swallowing their prey, the position of 

 the captured fish is reversed, and it passes down the 



throat head foremost : by this manoeuvre the fins are 

 prevented from impeding its passage. The flesh of 

 the dolphin is coarse and dry, but, to those who 

 have subsisted for a long while on salted provisions, 

 is very acceptable. At certain times, and in parti- 

 cular localities, the flesh acquires a deleterious 

 quality, which has often proved fatal to persons who 

 have eaten of it. The best antidote to its poisonous 

 effect is a copious emetic, administered as soon as any 

 symptom of poison is apparent. The dolphin bites 

 freely at a hook baited with a piece of salted meat, 

 or better with a flying fish, and, from its great 

 strength, affords fine sport to the fisherman. 



DOMAIN, or DEMAIN, or DEMESNE (in 

 French domaine), in its popular sense, denotes the 

 lord's manor place, with the lands thereto belong 

 ing, which he and his ancestors have from time to 

 time kept in their own occupation. In England tlm 

 domains of the crown (terra dominicales regis) denote 

 either the share reserved to the crown, in the distri- 

 bution of landed property at the time of the con- 

 quest, or such as came to it afterwards, by forfeitures 

 or other means. They are, at present, contracted 

 within a very narrow compass, having been almost 

 entirely granted to private subjects ; and though this 

 was often done in a most injudicious manner, it has 

 been of great benefit to the British nation, by dimi- 

 nishing the power of the crown, and making it de- 

 pendent on the grants of parliament ; whilst, in 

 many other countries, the wealth of the crown has 

 rendered it independent, and strong enough to op- 

 press the subjects, and undertake wars injurious to 

 the public welfare. The rents and profits of the de- 

 mesne lands of the crown constitute, at present, one 

 branch of the king of Britain's ordinary revenue. 

 (For more information respecting the history of crown 

 lands in Britain, see the article Civil List.) 



In France, there are several different kinds of domains : 

 1. Domaine de I'etat, or public domains, comprising highways, 

 harbours, rivers, canals, sea coasts, banks of rivers, lortifica- 

 tions, &c. (Code Napoleon, a. 5H8 541), to which the estates 

 of the emigrants were also added (Charts Const., a. 9). 9. 

 Domaine or dotation de la couronne (Sen'itus Coin, of January 

 30, 1810, and law of Nov. 8, 1S14). To this class belong the 

 palaces, gardens, forests, farms, crown jewels, &c., of the M>- 

 vereign, which are all inalienable, and not chargeable with 

 debts, and pass thus from each king to his successor. 3. Do- 

 mains prite consists of such estates as the king acquires as a 

 private person, and over which he exercises an entire control. 

 But whatever portion of this the king does not dispose of by 

 testament becomes, at his death, a part of the public domains ; 

 so, also, whatever a prince possesses, before he ascends the 

 throne, becomes a part of the public domain at the moment he 

 becomes king, and his debts, at the same ti.ne, become charges 

 on the public treasury. 4. Napoleon had also a domaine e.r- 

 Iraordinatre (law of Jan. 30, 1810), which consisted of his ac- 

 quisitions by conquests, nod were kept entirely athis disposal ; 

 these supplied the means ot donations to his generals, &c. 

 The domaine extraordinaire has been also retained by the 

 Bourbons (law of May 22, 1SI6). The administration of these 

 donations was conducted with great wisdom ; and Napole. 

 on, as Las Cases relates, dwelt with pleasure on this branch 

 of his government. See Dotations of Napoleon. There 

 also existed, formerly, domains which were inalienable 

 in the ruling family, but did not belong to ttie state ; and in 

 gome countries there are still such. The question, what part 

 of the domain a sovereign may alienate, what are public do- 

 mains, and what the private property of the ruling' family, 

 &c., is extremely difficult to be decided, in states in which the 

 origin of the domains goes back to periods when few politi- 

 cal subjects were distinctly settled, and particularly in coun- 

 tries in which there is no constitution binding the sovereign, 

 and settling the distinction between these different kinds of 

 property. Power will generally decide, instead of justice, 

 whenever it is for the advantage of the sovereign, as has often 

 been the case in Germany. An important question arose in 

 Germany, in regard to the sale of the domains in the kingdom 

 of Westphalia, during the reign of Jerome. The elector o/ 

 Hesse-Cassel and the duke of Brunswick, having resumed pos- 

 session of their countries, which had been included in that 

 kingdom, declared the sales void, because, as they said, they 

 never had acknowledged the king of Westphalia. Prussia, 

 which received back a part of the territory which constituted 

 the kingdom of Westphalia, acknowledged the validity of the 

 pale, because it had recognised Jerome Bonaparte as king. 

 Much discussion took place respecting these sales. Austria, 

 as well as Prussia, showed a disposition to favour the pur. 

 chasers. The diet of the Germanic confederacy (bowed it> 

 weakness on this occaioa, as it could effect nothing sigaiust tlit 



