134 GRAMPUS, PORPOISE, AND DOLPHIN. 



species or varieties comprised under this genus ; but the 

 principal are the blunt-headed, the round-headed, and the 

 high-finned. 



This tribe is of dimensions inferior to the whale, pro- 

 perly so called, being, in general, about sixty feet long, 

 and sixteen in circumference. They are more slender, 

 and afford a larger quantity of oil in proportion to their 

 bulk. The head constitutes at least half the length, and 

 the thorax is wide enough to admit and contain an entire 

 ox. In the stomach of the whale scarcely any thing is to 

 be found ; but in that of the cachalot there are frequently 

 vast quantities of fish of different kinds; so that this 

 animal is as destructive among fishes as the whale is harm- 

 less. 



But, terrible as it may be to its companions of the deep, 

 it is by far the most valuable and desired by man, as it 

 yields two very precious drugs, ambergris and spermaceti. 

 These are so universally used for the purposes of luxury 

 or medicine, that the capture of a single cachalot is 

 reckoned a sufficient compensation for the risk and expense 

 of distant voyages, undertaken for this end alone. 



The spermaceti, as it is naturally formed, is, in fact, 

 nothing but the brain of the animal ; and one of them 

 will yield about sixteen barrels of this substance. The 

 ambergris is lodged in a bag of considerable capacity 

 under the belly, in pretty large lumps ; and, though of 

 little intrinsic value, has gained a fictitious reputation, 

 which enhances the price. 



THE GRAMPUS, THE PORPOISE, AND THE DOLPHIN. 



I have thrown these three species of the same genus 

 together, because their distinctions are not very consider- 

 able, and their general history is the same. The grampus, 

 which is the largest, never exceeds twenty feet ; it may be 

 sufficiently distinguished by the flatness of the head, 

 which resembles a boat turned upside down. The porpoise 

 is about eight feet long, and its snout has more resem- 

 blance to the hog than to that of the grampus. The dol- 



