Till: GRAMPUS. 



I ; : 



specimen which has already !- n mention. -<1 thei-i- \\.-i-.- n<> If-- than one hun.lr.-.| ami two te-tli, 

 twenty-six on -a. -h -ide of tin- npjM-r j:iw. and twenty-five on each side of tin- lower. In these 

 animals there is no j>erceptil>le distinction U-twi-.- n tin- teeth ; in<-i-<.i-, .-anines, and nn-lar- 

 being all alike. 



* 



THE head of the GRAMPUS la more rounded than that of the porpoi.se, and It* forehead Is 

 mow convex. There are several species of Delphinidir which are called by the name of Gram 

 pus, thf l-t known of which is the ordinary or common Grampus. 



It is a decidedly large animal, an adult specimen measuring from twenty to thirty feet in 

 length, and from ten to twelve in girth. The teeth are not nearly HO numerous as in the por- 

 U-iiiijonly forty -four in total number, eleven at each side of each jaw. In shape they 



are somewhat conical, strongly made, and slightly curved. The color of the Grampus is black 

 on the upper port of the body, suddenly changing into white on the abdomen and jutrt of the 

 sides. There is generally a white patch of considerable size immediately above and rather 

 behind the eyelid. 



The name Grampus appears to be a corruption of the French word " Grand-poisson," Just 

 :i> potpoise i- ;i ti-iii-miiifl f,,rm ( " ]...rf.].,,U-.,ii." 



Although it sometimes wanders into more southern regions, its favored home is In the 

 northern seas that wash the coasts of Greenland and Spitzl>ergen, where it congregates in 

 small herds. It is a very wolf in its constant hunger, and commits great havoc among the 

 larger fish, such as the cod, the skate, and the halibut, caring little for the smaller fry. 

 At tiiiit-s it is said to make systematic attacks on seals, by startling them from their slmnler 

 as they lie sunning themselves on the rocks or ice, and wi/imr tln-m as the half-le'pi IL' 

 animals plunge in-tinctively into the sea. Even the smaller porpoises and dolphins fall victim- 

 to tin- in-atiable appetite of the Grampus, as has been proved by the discovery of their 

 remains in the dissected stomach of one of these animals. 



It is said that the Grampuses are fond of amusing themselves by mobbing the Greenland 

 whale, just as the little birds mob owls when they venture forth in the daytime, and that they 

 persecute it by leaping out of the water and -triking it sharply with their tail- a- they descend. 

 In consequence it has been called by the name of Thn-hfi. r Killer. The sword-fish is 

 reported to join the Thresher in this amusement, and to prevent the whale from diving by 



