56 



CLASS MAMMALIA. 



ORDER GET ACE A. 



teeth; blow-hole single, and on the back of the head; pectoral limbs 

 webbed, no hind limbs. 



PHYSETER (Gr. <pv<raw, I blow). Head of very great size ; in the upper 

 jaw no teeth, or if there be any very small ; lower jaw received within the 

 upper, and armed with from eighteen to twenty -four large conical pointed 

 teeth. 



BAL.ENA (Gr. 0d\ava, a Whak, according to J. Johnston, from 

 /3oAXw, to cast up, because the animal throws up water). Instead of 

 teeth, pendulous horny laminae, triangular and fibrous at their edges ; dis- 

 tinct frontal spiracles ; anterior extremities pinnated, posterior none ; tail 

 horizontal, with or without the dorsal fin ; two inguinal teats. 



URANODOX (Gr. 6v[>av}), a palate, and olovs, a tooth). Forehead 

 high, very convex, and rising suddenly from the snout ; lower jaw larger 

 and longer than the upper; body lengthy, and its greatest girth in the 

 region of the pectoral fins, which are small and oval. 



SP1RAC0LARIA. DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIES. 



DELPHINUS Dolphin. The Dolphins are the most ferocious of the 

 order Cetacea. They have been divided by Cuvier into four subgenera, 

 the last of which differs very much from the others in having palatine 

 teeth, and but two teeth in the lower jaw : 



First, the Dolphins Proper, which have the mouth projecting so as to 

 form a kind of beak. 



Sj>ecies the Ddphin (D. Delphis), an animal about ten feet long, and 

 almost straight, the back being but slightly curved, and the body slen- 

 der ; the beak is flattened from above to below, and each jaw is provided 

 with from forty-two to forty-seven slightly curved conical teeth ; the 

 blow-hole is placed in the middle of the head ; skin smooth ; colour of the 

 back dusky, becoming lighter on the sides, and white on the belly. It 

 swims with great rapidity, and leaps so high out of water as occasionally 

 to throw itself upon a ship's deck. The position into which the Dolphin 

 puts himself at the time of taking its leap, probably first induced the 

 ancients to paint and engrave it in the unnatural form in which it may be 

 seen in most of their representations. They esteemed the Dolphin as a 

 sacred fish (Athenseus, vii. 7), and believed that it was the only animal 

 without a gall (id. viii. 12). (Plate 23.) 



The narrow-snouted Dolphin (D. Rostratus), the front of the head of 

 which is more prominent, and the jaws more lengthened and slender than 

 in the other species. 



The Great Dolphin (D. Tursio) is about fourteen feet long. 



Second, the Porpesses which have not the mouth beaked, but short and 

 regularly prominent. 



The Porpesse (D. Phocaaia) does not measure more than five feet ; its 

 body is very thick towards the head, but becomes more slender towards 

 the tail ; nose projects but little ; teeth between fifty and sixty in each jaw ; 

 eyes small ; blow-hole on the top of the head ; it is black above and white 

 below. They are very common upon our coasts, and are most numerous 

 during the Mackerel and Herring seasons, pursuing their prey with as great 

 eagerness as Dogs. 



The Grampus (D. Orca) is the largest of the genus, attaining from 

 twenty to twenty -five feet in length ; it is remarkably thick in proportion, 

 one of eighteen feet measuring ten feet in diameter ; it is a very voracious 

 animal, and a great enemy to the Whale, which it pursues in herds, and 

 destroys. 



Third, the Delphinapteres, which resemble the Porpesses, but have no 

 dorsal fin. 



The Beluga (D. Leucus) is about the size of the Grampus ; it swims 

 very swiftly, and is a native of the northern seas, particularly about Davis's 

 Straits. 



Fourth, the Bottleheads, now formed into a distinct genus: see URA- 



NODON. 



The Bottle Head (C. Bidens) resembles the Dolphin in appearance, but 

 is much shorter ; the pectoral and dortal fins are small. It is caught in 

 the northern seas and in the English Channel. 



MOXODON Narwhale. The general form of the Narwhale resembles 

 that of the Porpoise, but is rather longer in proportion. 



The Narwhale (M. Monoceros) is about fifteen feet in length, exclusive 

 of the tusk, which is about five feet more ; the head is blunt, the body 

 rather conical with a ridge extending along the back, and probably supply- 

 ing the place of the absent dorsal fin ; some are grey, some black, and 

 others of a shining white or tinged with light grey, and marked with little, 

 unequal, irregular, black spots ; the under surface pure white, and quite 

 smooth. They are natives of the northern seas. (Plate 23.) 



PHYSETER Cachalot, or Spermaceti Whale. The animals forming this 

 genus are natives of the Polar seas, but like most others of this family they 

 pass into warmer seas for the purpose of breeding, and afterwards return 

 to their original abodes. Two important articles of commerce, viz., Sper- 

 maceti and Ambergris, are obtained from them. They are ranged in two 

 divisions. 



First : without a dorsal fin. The 'Great-headed CacJialot, or Spermaceti 

 Whale (P. Macroceplialus) : the head of this animal is of remarkable size, 

 equalling one-third or one-half of the entire bulk of the animal. This 

 arises not from the size of the brain-case itself, but from a large cavity 

 situated above it, and which contains fat in different states of consistence, 

 and also the peculiar substance called spermaceti. 



" The tongue," says Mr. Hunter, " is almost like a feather bed." The 

 eyes are small but prominent, so that the animal is able to pursue its prey 

 in a direct line. The orifice of the ear is extremely small. The nostrils 

 open by a single aperture near the fore and upper part of the head, and the 

 water ejected is not thrown directly upwards, but forwards in a curved 

 line, so that it falls before instead of upon the head of the animal ; but 

 when enraged it is said that the water is thrown up vertically ; they stay 

 longer under water than the Whales, and the larger the Cachalot is the 

 more frequently does it spout, and the longer does it remain under water. 

 The whole length of the animal is seventy or eighty feet ; its back is grey, 

 inclining more or less to blackish or greenish, and its belly whitish, as also 

 are the spaces around the eyes. It is found in all seas, but especially in 

 the Atlantic, washing the shores of Mexico and Peru, and the neighbouring 

 islands. (Plate 23.) 



Besides the two kinds of fat which are found in all cetaceous animals, 

 viz., the internal, which is the least fluid, and is nearly of the consistence 

 of hog's lard, and the external, which is fluid, and known as train-oil, the 

 Cachalot has another totally different, called spermaceti. It is found in 

 smaller proportions than the other fat in every part of the body, except in 

 the head, where, though mixed with the oil, it is in much greater 

 quantity. 



Ambergris, which is found upon the sea, the sea-coast, or the sand near 

 the sea-coast, especially in the Atlantic, on the coast of Brazil and Mada- 

 gascar, on the coast of Africa, the East Indies, China, Japan, the 

 Moluccas, and the Bahamas, is sometimes found in the bellies of Whales, 

 especially in the belly of the Spermaceti Whale. But it is remarkable 

 that all the Cachalots in which ambergris is met with appear torpid and 

 sick, and are constantly leaner than the others ; and when one of these is 

 hooked, the fishers immediately rip up the belly, and opening the intestines 

 from the vent upwards they find the ambergris in lumps of from three to 

 twelve inches in diameter, and from one to twenty or thirty pounds in 

 weight, at the distance of two, but more commonly of six or seven feet 

 from the vent, and never higher up in the intestines. When first taken 

 out it has nearly the same colour and disagreeable smell as the dung in 

 which it is found ; but on exposure to air by degrees it not only grows 

 greyish, and its surface becomes covered with a greyish dust like old 

 chocolate, but it loses its disagreeable odour, and after a time acquires the 

 peculiar smell agreeable to most persons. 



In Asia and Africa ambergris is used not only as a medicine and as a 

 perfume, but also in cookery as a spice. Great quantities are bought by 

 the pilgrims travelling to Mecca, probably for offerings and to be used as 

 frankincense. 



Second : with a dorsal fin. Three species are named the High-firmed 



