C E T A C E A. 



79i 



nature, that there should be a natural provision 

 against the period of natural want, corresponding- in 

 some degree to the continuance and severity of that 

 period. Nor is there any doubt that at these times, 

 when the porpoises gambol much at the surface of 

 the water, the surface fishes are generally near the 

 top, the water being then quiet and transparent, and 

 also considerably affected by the diminished pressure 

 of the atmosphere which usually precedes storms, as 

 is indicated by the fall of the barometer. 



The common porpoise is generally about six or 

 seven feet long, very thick in the fore part of the 

 body, and tapering gradually towards the tail. The 

 upper part is bluish-black, or sometimes very dark 

 brown, and the under part whitish, but not bright in 

 the colour. The muzzle is short and broad, though 

 the snout does project a little beyond the opening of 

 the mouth. Each jaw contains about forty-eight 

 teeth, which are small, sharp-pointed, and slightly 

 moveable on the gum. The tongue is flat, zigzag on 

 the sides, and united below to the under part of the 

 mouth. The eyes are small for the size of the animal, 

 though not nearly so much so as in the whales, espe- 

 cially the spermaceti whales. 



When the porpoise is in good condition, the blubber 

 of it is very thick, and furnishes a considerable quan- 

 tity of very good oil ; a large sized one yielding as 

 much as a hogshead. The flesh is also tolerably well 

 tasted ; and in former times, when dishes were prized 

 for their size, the porpoise was a leading dish at feasts. 

 It is still eaten in some parts of the world, though we 

 believe that our English epicures do not now have 

 porpoise, and porpoise-sauce made of crumbs of 

 bread and sugar, in the list of their dainties. Indeed 

 the animal is far from being a favourite even with the 

 fishermen, who look on it as a formidable rival in their 

 trade, alleging that it drives the fish off the coasts, 

 and injures their quality by hunting them about, as 

 well as thins their numbers. It is also very apt to 

 break and otherwise injure their nets. 



It is generally understood that it does not, at least 

 at all seasons of the year, confine its labours to sur- 

 face fishing ; but that it descends at least into the 

 shallows, and not only captures flounders and other 

 species which inhabit near the bottom, but even 

 ploughs up the sand and mud with its snout, in order 

 to capture those species of fish which burrow in these 

 shallows. This is not improbable, as it is generally 

 understood that even the salmon catch eels some- 

 thing in this way. 



The skin of the porpoise, when properly dressed, 

 makes neat, and very compact and durable leather, 

 only the inner or fleshy side of it has to be much 

 curried down, in order to remove all the cellular tissue. 

 There are many anecdotes told of the modes of cap- 

 turing these animals, especially on the American coast, 

 where they are much more abundant than on that of 

 Europe. We may quote one of these as throwing 

 some light on the character of the animals. " The 

 inhabitants of Canada, about the river St. Lawrence, 

 adopt an amusing method of taking porpoises. They 

 collect together a considerable number of slender 

 branches of sallows, willows, or similar trees, and 

 stick them firmly into the sand banks across the 

 banks of the river, which are commonly left dry at 

 low water, so as to form a long line of twigs, having 

 the upper end connected with the shore, and an 

 opening left next the sea, by which the porpoises 

 may enter. As the tide rises the water covers tho 



twigs, so as to keep them out of sight, and the por- 

 poises, entering the river in quest of their prey, get 

 within the line, where they continue the chace till 

 they find, by the ebbing of the tide, that it is time to 

 retreat into deep water. They now make towards 

 the sea, but then the twigs coming into sight, and 

 being all agitated by the current of the tide, form 

 such an alarming spectacle, that they retire in great 

 fright from this tremendous rampart. The tide con- 

 tinuing to ebb, the porpoises return from time to 

 time, but m:t being able to conquer their dread of 

 those terrific twigs, they flounder about till they are 

 entirely deserted by the tide, when the inhabitants, 

 watching a favourable opportunity, commence the 

 attack, and soon overpower the defenceless animals. 

 In this manner more than one hundred porpoises, 

 each yielding about a hogshead of oil, are sometimes 

 taken at a single tide." 



Dclphinits DelpJiis the common dolphin. This 

 species is considerably longer than the last men- 

 tioned, but it is not nearly so thick in proportion. 

 The usual length is about nine or ten feet ; the nose 

 long, narrow, and pointed, with a transverse furrow 

 across the skin towards the upper part ; though there 

 are none of the characters usually given to the imagi- 

 nary dolphin of painters. The gape is very deep, 

 reaching nearly to the articulation of the head ; and 

 the teeth, though variable in number, are said usually 

 to be about forty in the upper jaw, and thirty-six or 

 thirty-eight in the lower. The dolphin is more an 

 inhabitant of the wide seas than the porpoise, and it 

 is also found in lower latitudes, often accompanying- 

 ships for a long way on their passage to the East and 

 West Indies, but is of rare occurrence on the British 

 shores, and appearing there only as a straggler. The 

 dorsal fin is even higher than that of the porpoise; 

 and as the upper part is blacker, and the under part 

 much whiter than in that animal, it makes a much 

 more conspicuous figure in the water. 



It is much more discursive than the porpoise ; but 

 still it is like that a gregarious animal, and very 

 sportive, leaping entirely out of the water, with the 

 back sometimes a very little arched, and the tail a 

 little curved, during their leaps, but nothing at all as 

 compared with the fanciful representations. It must 

 be borne in mind, that, as the principal action of 

 cetaceous animals is in the vertical plane, while that 

 of fishes is in the horizontal, we might expect some 

 flexure either upwards or downwards, in the posterior 

 part of the spine, just as we find lateral flexure toward 

 either side in the spines of fishes. There is, how- 

 ever, an optical deception in the case of an animal 

 leaping from the water, and falling down again, which 

 makes one imagine its back to be' much more curved 

 than it really is. Thus, when >even a salmon leaps, 

 it seems bent so far like a bow ; and yet we know 

 tha-t the spine of a salmon bends little at all, either 

 upwards or downwards. The cause of the deception 

 is in the eye following the general curve in which the 

 average mass of the body is carried, during the leap ; 

 and as the real shape is not very well seen while the 

 animal is in motion, it is readily, and indeed neces- 

 sarily, associated with this curve. 



As might be expected from its more discursive 

 habits, the flesh of the dolphin is inferior to that of 

 the porpoise. Formerly, it was more highly prized 

 than that animal, probably on the account of its 

 greater rarity ; but now it is not sought as food, or 

 considered valuable for any purpose to range the sea 



