442 DELPHINIM. 



in the calm dark sea, now pursuing each other in active 

 gambols, now diving after their prey, now re -ascending to 

 the surface to breathe. Prof. Newton, when he saw such 

 a " school " of Belugas near Spitzbergen, in 1864, observed 

 that they glided through the water with an easy roll, now 

 and then showing the whole of their bodies above the 

 waves. 



This is almost the only Cetacean which has been kept 

 in captivity for any length of time. A male White 

 Whale, captured in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, was kept 

 alive in a tank in America for two years, and showed 

 great intelligence and docility. On its death it was 

 examined by Prof. Wyman, who gives the following in- 

 teresting account of its manners in the seventh volume of 

 the " Boston Journal of Natural History " : " I was in- 

 formed by Mr. Cutting, the proprietor of the Aquarial 

 Gardens, who is a very careful and trustworthy observer, 

 that this animal during his confinement showed some 

 capacity for education. He was sufficiently well trained 

 to allow himself to be harnessed to a car, in which he 

 drew a young lady round the tank ; he learned to recog- 

 nize his keeper, would allow himself to be handled by 

 him, and at the proper time would come and put his head 

 out of the water to receive the harness or take food. At 

 times he showed a playful disposition, and amused him- 

 self sometimes with splashing about in the water, and at 

 others with tossing stones with his mouth. He often 

 took in his mouth a Sturgeon and a small Shark which 

 were confined in the same tank, and after playing with 

 them for a while allowed them to go unharmed. Mr. 

 Cutting states that the White Whale was less docile than 

 the Delphinus tursio, who was for a time a companion with 

 him in the tank." 



The Beluga feeds on various fish, as Cod, Haddocks, &c.; 



