CETACEA. 227 



round face, and the mamma on the breast, may have 

 originated some of the accounts received of mermaids, 

 &c., though it is very doubtful whether all such re- 

 ports can be thus explained away. The stomach is 

 fourfold, as in the Ruminants. Vestiges of claws 

 appear on the fins, whence they are called " handed." 

 The body is terminated by a broad fin- tail as already 

 described. The M. Americanus inhabits the African 

 and American rivers, and the M. Dugong those of 

 India. The latter has true tusks, though short, which 

 are wanting in the other. Both are frequently called 

 Sea-cows. They differ from the true Cetacea in the 

 nostrils opening in the muzzle and not on the crown. 



Delphinus,-\- the Dolphin. 



The Dolphins and Porpoises have the jaws armed 

 with very numerous teeth, conical and sharp-pointed. 

 They are the most carnivorous, and in proportion to 

 their size, the most cruel of their order. Voracious, 

 and ravenous as they are, were they as large as 

 the Whales, they would depopulate the deep. They 

 are, however, comparatively small, though the Gram- 

 pus (Phoc&na Oreo) sometimes attains the length of 

 thirty feet. Dr. Grant has observed that several 

 circumstances in the anatomy of the carnivorous 

 Cetacea shew a resemblance to the Crocodiles in the 

 Reptilia. We cannot in a work such as the present 

 enter into these details, but we may mention the ex- 

 tension of the face, and its horizontal direction ; the 



v, delphin, its Greek name. 



