25*2 CETACEA. 



forty-four in number, eleven on each side above and below, va- 

 rying in number with age, sometimes are as many as sixty, and 

 interlocking when the jaws are shut. The dorsal elevation, im- 

 properly called a fin, is from four to six feet high; the pectoral 

 or swimming fins are large and oval, and it has a strong tail. 

 The color is glossy black above, white beneath ; occasionally 

 there is a large white patch behind the eye, resembling an eye- 

 lid. The length is from twenty to thirty feet ; the circumference 

 from ten to twelve. The favorite abode of the Grampus is the 

 coast of Greenland, Spitzbergen, and Davis' straits ; it is also found 

 in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. It was formerly numerous on 

 the coast of New York State. It is a very powerful and vora- 

 cious animal, devouring great numbers of fishes, large ones es- 

 pecially, such as the cod, haddock, and turbot, and even seals 

 and porpoises have been found in their stomachs. *' They go in 

 company by dozens, will attack a young whale, and bait him 

 like so man)' bull-dogs." The oil which they yield is of 

 excellent quality. Fishermen sometimes call them Finners, 

 or Black-fish Whales. Stories are told of their attacking 

 whales, joining in herds for that purpose ; but these perhaps 

 need confirmation. Sir Joseph Banks says of one that was 

 captured in the Thames, (Eng.,) "It pulled the attached boat 

 twice from Black wall to Greenwich, and once as far as Dept- 

 ford, at the rate of eight miles an hour, and it was for a long 

 time unimpeded by the lance wounds which were inflicted 

 on it when it came to the surface. So long as it was alive, 

 no boat would venture to approach it ; and the dying efforts 

 of this formidable creature were terrible. It was finally killed 

 opposite the Greenwich Hospital." 



G. Cuvieri, or Phoccena grisea, (of Lesson,) is a handsome 

 species inhabiting the North Sea ; has been taken on the West 

 coast of France ; is ten or eleven feet long ; has only eight teeth, 

 and these in the lower jaw. It is famous for uttering loud cries 

 like the Deductor (or Howling) whale, and associating in groups 

 like that whale. 



Delphinapterus. This genus includes two species, D. Peronii, 

 Peron's Dolphin, and D. Borealis. The head is rather convex 

 in front, nose depressed, forming a slender beak, and there is no 

 dorsal fin. The form and proportions are elegant. The snout, 

 as far as the eye, and the under parts of the body and the tail 

 are of silvery whiteness; a bluish black covers the upper parts 

 of the body, giving it the appearance of having on a black cloak. 

 The iris is of an emerald green color. The D. Peronii is the 

 Right- Whale Porpoise of the Whalers, found in the higher 



