THE COMMON PORPOISE. 223 



The Porpoise is usually four or five feet long, 

 though sometimes as much as six or eight. We 

 shall give the general descriptions in the words of 

 Cuvier. It has absolutely no hair, not even eye- 

 lashes. Its skin is perfectly smooth, and its scarf- 

 skin is very soft to the touch and easily detached. 

 It has no lips properly so called; hut the skin, 

 always sleek and black, is somewhat strengthened 

 at its union with the gums. The eye is small, and 

 situated nearly in the line of the opening of the 

 mouth; the eyelids are soft, and have very little 

 play ; their internal surface is moistened with mu- 

 cus, but there are no puncta lacrymalia, and conse- 

 quently no tears. The iris is yellowish ; the pupil 

 in form of a v, reversed. The opening to the ear is 

 not larger than the prick of a pin ; that of the blow- 

 hole is placed on the top of the head, precisely 

 between the eyes, and resembles a crescent with its 

 horns looking forward. Neither the dorsal fin nor 

 the tail have any osseous parts in the interior, and 

 the former is incapable of any separate movement, 

 and is composed almost wholly of fat. 



The general shape and appearance of the porpoise 

 may be seen in the accompanying Plate, fig. 1. Its 

 flesh is dark-coloured and gorged with blood, and 

 covered with a fatty membrane about an inch thick, 

 which is quite white, and on heating is reduced almost 

 entirely to an oil similar to that of the other Cetae, 

 but very fine and much esteemed. The colour on the 

 upper part of the body is a deep bluish black, fading 

 away on the sides till it acquires a silvery whiteness on 



