THE PORPESSE. 



Numerous in all the British seas. 



young and tender. Dolphins are said to change 

 their colour before they die, and again after they 

 are dead. 



THE PORPESSE. 



THE general form of the porpesse very much 

 resembles that of the dolphin. It is however 

 somewhat less in size, and has a snout much 

 broader and shorter. It is generally from six to 

 seven feet in length; its body is thick towards 

 the head, but grows slender towards the tail, 

 forming the figure of a cone. In each jaw are 

 forty-eight teeth, small, sharp-pointed, and move- 

 able; and so placed that the teeth of one jaw 

 lock into those of the other. The eyes are small, 

 as is the spout-hole at the top of the head. la 

 colours the back is black, and the belly whitish, 

 but they sometimes vary. 



Porpesses are very numerous in all the British 

 seas, particularly in the river St. Laurence, wheie 

 there is a white kind. Dr. Borsale in his voyage 

 to the Scilly Isles, observed a small species of 

 cetaceous fish, which he calls thornbacks, from 

 their broad and sharp fin on the back. Some of 

 these were brown, some quite white, others spot- 

 ted ; but whether they were only a variety of 

 this fish, or small grampusses, which are also 

 spotted, cannot be determined. The porpesse is 

 remarkable for the vast quantity of fat or lard 



