PORPOISES. 127 



36. These animals are the mo?t carnivorous, and in proportion 

 to their size, the most cruel of all the Cetacea. Their skin, which 

 is smooth, is ordinarily bluish black above, and white or whitish 

 below. The vent, directed vertically, is sometimes in the form of 

 a crescent, sometimes of a straight line, and is often found on 

 a line with the eyes. Most of them have a triangular fin on the 

 back. Their brain is generally remarkable for its developement 

 and the depth of its convolutions. These animals are celebrated 

 for their swiftness, as well as on account of the fables the ancients 

 have mingled with their history, and on account of a species of 

 religious worship they received amongst the Greeks. They live 

 in numerous troops, of which the strongest seem to be the leaders, 

 and display strong attachment for their young; they often ac- 

 company ships to seize upon fishes attracted by the refuse thrown 

 overboard, and sometimes they have been known to follow a ves- 

 sel throughout a long voyage, playing under the bows, while she 

 cleaves the waves with all the rapidity that wind and sails can 

 communicate. It is these peculiar habits, joined to a degree of 

 intelligence far superior to that of fishes, with which the ignorant 

 are always disposed to compare these animals, that have obtained 

 for them their ancient reputation for sociability ; the poetic im- 

 agination of the Greeks created for the Dolphin an assemblage 

 of perfections, moral and physical, which the human species is 

 far from possessing. They placed its image in their temples, im- 

 pressed it on their coins, on their medals and made it the attribute 

 or symbol of the god of the sea; they employed its image to 

 recal the memory of a host of events real or fabulous, and to ex- 

 press moral precepts; finally, they associated it with a great 

 number of their divinities, and what is singular, the ancients 

 never represented it with that exactness which they habitually 

 observed in imitating nature, but as if they designed to idealize it. 



37. The species of cetacea which has received so many honours 

 seems to be the Common Dolphin, Delpldnus Delpliis, It is 

 from eight to ten feet long and is found in every sea. It is black 

 above and white below ; it has a depressed beak, which is armed 

 on each side with from forty two to forty seven small, pointed teeth. 



38 PORPOISES, Phoccena, differ from the preceding in their 

 short muzzle, uniformly convex, which does not resemble a beak. 

 Their name, which signifies hog-fish, has been given to them on 

 account of the quantity of fat found beneath the skin. 



36. What are the habits of Dolphins 1 



37. What is the common Dolphin? What is the number of its teeth? 



38. How do Porpoises differ from Dolphins 1 





