DELPHINID^E 



261 



small, not meeting in the middle line, but approxi- 

 mating posteriorly. Vertebrae: C 7, D 11, L 6, 

 C 26 ; total 50. Cervical region comparatively 

 long, and all the vertebrae distinct, or with ir- 

 regular unions towards the middle of the series, 

 the atlas and axis being usually free. Manus 

 small, short, and broad ; second and third digits 

 nearly equal, fourth slightly shorter. No dorsal 

 fin. 



This genus is now represented only by the 

 well-known Narwhal (M. monoceros), in which the 

 horn -like tusk of the male often grows to a 

 length of 7 or 8 feet. In very young animals 

 several small additional teeth, irregular in number 

 and position, are present, but these usually dis- 

 appear soon after birth. 



The head is rather short and rounded ; the 

 fore limbs or paddles are small and broad com- 

 pared with those of most Dolphins ; and (as in the 

 Beluga) the median dorsal fin, found in nearly 

 all other members of the group, is wanting or 

 replaced by a low ridge. The general colour of 

 the surface is dark gray above and white below, 

 but variously marbled and spotted with different 

 shades of gray. In the general contour of the 

 body the Narwhal resembles the White Whale 

 or Beluga. 



The Narwhal is essentially an Arctic animal, 

 frequenting the icy circumpolar seas, and but 

 rarely seen south of 65 N. lat. Three instances 

 have, however, been recorded of its occurrence 

 on the British coasts, one in the Firth of Forth 

 in 1648, one near Boston in Lincolnshire in 1800, 

 while a third, which entangled itself among 

 the rocks in the Sound of Weesdale, Shetland, 

 in September 1808, is described by Fleming 

 in the Memoirs of the Wernerian Society, vol. i. 

 Like most other Cetaceans, it is gregarious in 

 its habits, being usually met with in " schools " 

 or herds of fifteen or twenty individuals. Its 

 food appears to be various species of cephalo- 

 pods, small fishes, and crustaceans. The pur- 

 pose served in the animal's economy by the 

 wonderfully developed asymmetrical tusk or 

 "horn," as it is commonly but erroneously 

 called is not known. As it is present only 



