THE NARHWAL 



(Monodoii monoceros) 



THE Sea-Unicorn, as the Narhwal is often appropriately called, is one 

 of the most remarkable beasts in the world, and quite unique in its 

 dental arrangements. It has only two teeth in its head, and in the 

 case of the female neither is of any use, as they remain short and 

 embedded in the gum. In the male the left tooth grows into the 

 long tusk often miscalled a horn which in length about equals half 

 that of the animal's body. The right tooth generally remains aborted, 

 as in the female, but in very rare cases both grow into long tusks, 

 as may be seen by a skull in the South Kensington Museum. In 

 one case also a female with a well-developed tusk, though not so long 

 as in a male, has been recorded, no doubt an analogous case to the 

 occasional development of horns in female Deer. 



The tusk is hollow for a great part of its length, and the spiral 

 grooving of the surface is purely superficial, and does not indicate a 

 twisted structure. In length this huge tooth may measure as much 

 as seven feet, the beast itself being about fourteen. The newly-born 

 Narhwal has a few irregular rudimentary teeth, which soon disappear ; 

 in colour it is much darker than the adult, for this creature gradually 

 whitens with age, and old ones are more white than grey. 



The Narhwal is a purely and characteristically Arctic animal, found 

 all round the world in the vicinity of the eternal ice ; it very rarely 

 leaves the Polar regions, and only three specimens have ever reached 

 our coasts. In its native haunts it has been observed to be a swift 

 swimmer, and of a sociable and playful disposition, males often indulg- 

 ing in fencing-bouts with their tusks ; no doubt they also engage in 

 serious combats for the females, since the most obvious purpose of 

 the tusk is to serve as a weapon. It certainly appears not to be used 

 to procure the food, which consists mostly of Cuttle-fish and, among 



141 



