JOHN DOREE, DOLPHIN 1 . 145 



THE JOHN DOREE. 



This fish is greatly esteemed for its delicious flavour ; it 

 is said that Quin, a famous actor in England, went from 

 London to Plymouth, that he might eat it in perfection and 

 abundance. 



The colour of a John Doree is a dark green, marked 

 with black spots, with a golden gloss. It is this which 

 gives him the name of Doree, that word being the French 

 for gilded. 



In Britain, it was long before this fish was regarded as 

 eatable. The celebrated comedian, Mr. Quin, first intro-* 

 duced it to our tables ; ever since which it has constantly 

 maintained the reputation of b'eing a delicious viand not- 

 withstanding its forbidding form and aspect. It was for- 

 merly supposed to be confined to the southern seas of this 

 kingdom, but it has been found likewise on the coast of 

 Anglesea. Some have been taken that weigh twelve 

 pounds ; and larger still are found in the Bay of Biscay 

 and the Mediterranean. 



THE DOLPHIN. 



The dorphin has an almost straight shape, the back 

 being very slightly incurvated, and the body slender : the 

 nose is long, narrow, and pointed, with abroad transverse 

 band, or projection of its skin on its upper part. It has 

 twenty-one teeth in the upper, and nineteen in the lower 

 jaw, somewhat above an inch long, conic at the upper end, 

 sharp pointed, and bending a little in ; they are placed at a 

 small distance from each other ; so that, when the mouth 

 is shut, the teeth of both jaws lock into each other. The 

 spout-hole is placed in the middle of the head ; the skin is 

 smooth ; the colour of the back and sides dusky ; the belly 

 whitish. It swims with great swiftness, and preys on fish. 

 The dolphin is larger and more slender than the porpoise, 

 measuring nine or ten feet in length, and only two in 

 diameter. 



All this species have fins on the back ; very large heads, 

 like the rest of the whale kind ; and resembles each other 

 in their appetites, their manners, and conformation, being 



