134 WILD BEASTS OF THE WORLD 



and has been seen as high up the Thames as Chiswick. It has a 

 wide distribution, being found both in the Atlantic and the Pacific, 

 but only frequents their northern portions, and is rare in the 

 Mediterranean. 



The fish it selects as food are those of moderate size, such as 

 Mackerel and Herrings, whence the name " Herring-Hog," sometimes 

 applied to it ; its name " Porpoise," by the way, is supposed to mean 

 " Hog-fish." It is a sociable creature, usually seen in parties, and is 

 lively in its actions, frequently jumping out of the water as depicted 

 in the illustration. A very common belief credits these gambols with 

 being an indication of bad weather. The female produces a single 

 young one. 



The Porpoise does no harm to man except when it gets caught in 

 a fishing-net, which it damages by its powerful struggles for freedom ; 

 nor is it nowadays much utilised, for most of the "Porpoise-hide" 

 boot-laces are really made from the skin of the Beluga or White 

 Whale. Our ancestors, however, thought highly of the Porpoise as a 

 table delicacy ; it had the great advantage of being legitimate food 

 for Fridays, being reckoned canonically as a fish, and was served up 

 roasted, with a sauce made of white bread-crumbs, sugar, and vinegar. 

 It must have been the Porpoise that Tom Hood was thinking of in 

 " Miss Kilmansegg " when he said of Queen Elizabeth that she 



"Broke her fast upon ale and beef 

 Instead of toast and the Chinese leaf, 

 And, in place of Anchovy, Grampus." 



Porpoises have been successfully kept in captivity at the Brighton 

 Aquarium, and one short-lived individual was exhibited at the London 

 Zoological Gardens, the only Cetacean which has ever graced the 

 collection. There are only about three species of true Porpoises, the 

 others being the Prickly-fin ned Porpoise (Phocana spinipinnis) of South 

 American waters, which is black all over, with fewer teeth than our 

 species, and short spines on the short back-fin and the back itself, and 

 the little Eastern Porpoise (P. phoccenoides), ranging from the Cape east 

 to Japan, which is only about four feet long, and has no back-fin at 



