103 



remained. These were the remains of a cuttle-fish, part of the spine 

 of a flat fish, probably a small turbot, and a skate almost entire. The 

 last was 2 feet 3 inches in length, and 1 foot 8 inches in breadth. It 

 comprised the bones of the head, back and tail, the side fins, and con- 

 siderable portions of the muscular substance. It appears remarkable 

 that the Narwhal, an animal without teeth, a small mouth, and with 

 stiff lips, should be able to catch and swallow so large a fish as a skate, 

 the breadth of which is nearly three times as great as the width of its 

 own mouth." 



The distinctive character of the Narwhal, not being possessed by 

 any other whale, lies in the long projecting spiral tusk, produced pro- 

 bably by the excessive growth of the canine tooth. This formidable 

 weapon has been known to attain as much as 8 or 10 feet in length, 

 while that of the animal, of course exclusive of this appendage, was 

 from 14 to 16 feet only. It is hollow at the base and solid towards the 

 extremity, and composed of fine close-grained ivory, of a dazzling and 

 enduring whiteness, so extremely hard as to take a high polish. For- 

 merly these tusks, very rarely brought to Europe, were regarded as the 

 veritable horns of the fabulous unicorn, and were consequently valued 

 as inestimable and almost priceless curiosities. The establishment of 

 the Greenland fishery quickly dispelled all doubts as to the nature of 

 their real character, and the present value now depends solely on the 

 number of pounds weight the tusk might weigh. 



The Narwhals are gregarious, and met with in considerable numbers 

 in the numerous creeks and bays of Greenland, Davis Straits, and 

 Iceland, but solitary individuals occasionally stray as far south as the 

 northern parts of Great Britain. 



Tusks of the Narwhal, in a semi-fossilized state, have been found in 

 Siberia, on the coast of Essex and of Lyons. 



D. Teeth in lower jaw only. 



Family IX. GEAMPIDjE. 1 



Head rounded, somewhat obtuse ; forehead very convex, not so pro- 

 tuberant as in G-lobiocephalus, scarcely beaked ; dorsal fin distinct, but 

 low ; pectoral fins well developed, ovate, rather elongate, placed low 

 down on the side of the body ; skull depressed ; symphysis of lower 

 jaw short ; cervical vertebrae anchylosed ; costo-sternal ribs ossified ; 

 sternum composed of one piece, broad in front ; teeth few, conical in 

 front part only of lower jaw ; those of the upper jaw early deciduous. 



The term Grampus (great fish) is, and has been, in scientific works, 

 and in general conversation, very universally applied to denote among 

 the odontocete the formidably dentated animal, the Killer^; and that 

 of jBlackfish to distinguish the cetaceans of milder propensities and of 



1 Grampus, contracted from the French, grampoise, grand poiston, great fish. 



