462 DELPHINID.E. 



CETA CEA . DELPHINIDJE. 



{GDONTOCETI.) 



Genus Delphinhs (Linngeus, 1766). 



Generic Character. — Head with well-marked produced beak ; a dorsal-fin. 

 Teeth conical, equal, and numerous in both jaws. Beak of skull usually as 

 long as brain-case, or even longer. 



COMMON DOLPHIN. 



Delphinus delphis (Linn.). 



Specific CAaj-acicr.— Black above, shaded to brilliant white below. Teeth 

 vi-\% to 55- §5 ; vertebr«> 70 to 75. Length of adult 6 to 8 feet. 



DelpUnns delphis, Linn^us, Syst. Nat., I., 108 (1766). 



,, vulgaris, Lacepede, Hist. Nat. des Get., 250 (1804). 



'^sA.^/;, Aristotle, Hist. An. Z., YL, c. 12. 



Delphinus, Pliny, Hist. Nat. Z., IX., c. 8. 



Ardluarsuk of Greenlanders, Springarc of Swedes. 



The mythological and poetical associations which 

 belong- to the Dolphin, its reputed attachment to man- 

 kind, its benevolent aid in cases of .shipwreck, its dedi- 

 cation to the gods, and many other attributes expressive 

 of the high estimation in which it was held in olden 

 times, afford a striking example of how the unre- 

 strained imagination of the ancients could raise the most 

 gorgeous structures of poetry and religion upon the 

 most slender basis. The story of Arion's escape on the 



