CHAPTER III. 



DOLPHINS AND SIEENS. 



WE now pass from the whales to another group of 

 mammalian trespassers, which are called by the popular 

 names of Porpoise and Dolphin. 



With regard to the former of the two words, there 

 is a difference of opinion with regard to its ortho- 

 graphy, some persons spelling it as porpoise, and others 

 as porpesse. Personally, I incline to the former of the 

 two arrangements, because the word porpoise is clearly 

 a slight corruption of the French name, porc-poisson, 

 i.e., swine-fish. 



In many respects the Porpoise agrees with the 

 whales, but in others it widely differs from them. It 

 agrees with them in the peculiar mode of respiration, 

 although, as it has not to remain below the surface of 

 the water for so long a period, the blood-reservoir 

 is not nearly so large. Like the whales, its body 

 is encased in a layer of fat, but, as it inhabits 

 the more temperate waters, the " blanket " is com- 

 paratively thin, and scarcely more than an inch in 

 thickness. 



One of the principal differences lies in the size of 



