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C E T A C E A. 



without molestation. It is a voracious animal, and 

 will feed upon any garbage which is thrown over- 

 board by the crews of ships, and it is probable that 

 this kind of food is its chief inducement for following 

 them ; but it does not appear that this species attacks 

 any sort of prey but fish, though it has sometimes 

 been said that it assails the whalebone whales. 



The common dolphin is of little or no value as an 

 oil animal, as the seas which it inhabits supply it 

 with abundance of food at all seasons, while the width 

 of its range, and its being pelagic, rather than a fre- 

 quenter of the bays and banks, keep it thin, from 

 being constantly in exercise. 



Delphmus orca (the Grampus) is one of the largest 

 and most powerful of the genus. It attains the 

 length of twenty-five feet, and when it does so, it 

 measures not less than twelve in circumference, and 

 its dorsal fin is at least five feet in height. The 

 upper part is black, the under white, the sides 

 mottled, and there is generally a white spot upon 

 each shoulder. The lower jaw is broader than the 

 upper, and each of them is furnished with about 

 thirty teeth ; three are in the front part of the 

 mouth, slender and blunt in the fronts, but farther in 

 the gape they are larger and conical, with sharp 

 points. The grampus is found in most seas, the 

 Atlantic in almost every latitude, the Mediterranean, 

 and even on the coasts of Britain, though it is rare. 

 There appear to be several varieties, at least in so 

 far as the colours and the height of the dorsal fin are 

 concerned ; but their habits appear to be all very 

 much alike. They are very active and voracious 

 animals, preying not only upon fish, but upon seals, 

 porpoises, and dolphins, though it does not appear 

 that they, as is sometimes alleged, attack and bite 

 the Greenland whales. 



In their general habit they are pelagic animals, 

 and seldom remain for any length of time on the 

 surface ; and this habit is sometimes the cause of 

 stranding to them, as, when they come into the 

 shallows, they are apt to get grounded. When 

 attacked, they make a powerful resistance,. The 

 females are much attached to their young, and can 

 hardly be made to abandon them even by personal 

 danger. The great activity and strength of the 

 grampus, and the perfect uselessness of its carcass 

 after it has been killed, cause it to be little sought 

 after. Even when it gets stranded, the labour of 

 putting it to death is considerable, and all that is got 

 for the labour is a great mass of flesh, which speedily 

 becomes putrid, and renders the place where it lies 

 unpleasant and unwholesome. It does not appear 

 that much fat is ever accumulated upon these 

 animals, 



Delphinus gladiator (the gladiator dolphin, or sea- 

 sword) is another large species, rivalling the grampus 

 in length, but not quite so thick in the body. It gets 

 the name of sea-sword from the shape of the dorsal 

 fin, which is about five feet long, one foot and a half 

 in breadth at the base, and tapering to the front. 

 The upper part of the body is blackish-brown, the 

 under pure white, and there is a black stripe on the 

 side extending from the tail to near the articulation 

 of the swimming paces. 



It differs from all the varieties of the grampus, in 

 having the snout much rounded, all the teeth strong 

 and sharp-pointed, the jaws of the same length with 

 each other, and the dorsal fin situated much farther 

 forward. 



This is an animal of great boldness and strength. 

 Like the rest of the genus, it is gregarious, at least to 

 a certain degree ; and though we must not implicitly 

 credit all the marvellous stories which are told of it 

 yet it is possible that several of them may make a 

 joint attack on a Greenland whale. The tongue of 

 that large animal is said to be the part at which they 

 aim ; and there is little doubt, that if one once gets a 

 hold, others will endeavour to follow the example. 



They are said not to be so fond of meddling with 

 the full-grown whales ; but the pack will readily 

 attack a young one, bite it in various parts, and even 

 catch it by the lobes of the tail. If they can once 

 fasten in this part, which, from its length and fibrous 

 texture, gives them a very firm hold, the power of 

 the whale is at an end, as it cannot shake off the 

 enemy, which hangs as staunchly by this part as a 

 bull-dog does by the nose of a bull, or a lion by the 

 muzzle of a buffalo. The others then bite with 

 impunity, till they throw their victim into an agony 

 of pain ; and when it lolls out its tongue, which it 

 does when severely hurt, the others are on the alert 

 to seize that organ. 



Instances have been mentioned of these animals 

 carrying off 1 , in the Greenland seas, the entire carcass 

 of a whale, which several boats were in the act of 

 towing, and that, in spite of all the efforts of the 

 rowers, they bore it off" in triumph. 



This powerful animal is chiefly found in the north- 

 west parts of the Atlantic, near the whale-fishing 

 ground in Davis' Straits, but it occasionally ranges 

 farther to the south ; although it does not appear to 

 be nearly so discursive in its habits as the grampus. 



In the year 1793, one gave a specimen of its 

 strength in the water in the Thames. This is not 

 the only individual that has come into that river ; 

 but it was attacked by four men in a boat, and struck 

 with three harpoons, and made fast. Still it drew 

 the boat with the four men twice from Blackwall to 

 Greenwich, and once as far up the river as Deptford ; 

 and, as this one was astray, out of its natural beat, 

 we may naturally suppose that it was exhausted, and 

 not so powerful as it would have been in its native 

 seas. 



Hyperoodon. There is only one species of this 

 genus, the beaked whale, or bottle-head (Hyperoodon, 

 Butskopf), which, in the structure of its teeth, is the 

 most peculiar of all the marine cetacea. It is most 

 abundant in the cold latitudes, but has been met with 

 occasionally in many parts of the North Atlantic and 

 North Sea. It is about twenty-four feet long, and 

 fifteen in circumference at the thickest part, which is 

 at the articulation of tne swimming paws. The body 

 thence to the tail has the form of a cone, and the 

 lobes of the tail, which are concave at their 

 margins, measure about six feet from tip to tip. The 

 general colour is a deep blackish-brown, relieved by 

 paler streaks and blotches on the under part. The 

 depth and length of the head are nearly the same, 

 but the mouth is lengthened out in the form of a sort 

 of beak. In the lower jaw there are only two teeth, 

 situated on the anterior part, conical and pointed ; 

 but the upper jaw and palate are beset with small 

 sharp teeth, which vary considerably in size. The 

 jaws are nearly of equal length ; the tongue adheres 

 to the lower jaw, and is toothed on the margins. 

 The blow-hole externally is single, and crescent- 

 shaped, with the cresses directed to the rear. The 

 rye is placed over the corner of the mouth, and 



