256 NATURAL HISTORY. 



characteristic, having the form of a massive boss. The teeth are somewhat numerous, namely, ;^ = 96. 

 When these Whales are seen gambolling in the bays of the Scottish shores, the hardy fishermen 

 start in their boats and form a cordon seawards. Then by gunshots, shouts, splashings, and throwing 

 stones they driA T e them towards the shore ; and as the animals madly plunge to shallower water, pressing- 

 through fear one over the other, the men dash into the water and begin havoc with harpoons, scythes, 

 spears, picks, or spades indeed, whatever weapon comes handiest. Thus numbers, from even fifty to 

 as many as two hundred, fall an easy prey. Such an encounter took place in 1867 near Prestonpans 

 on the Frith of Forth, when one Whale wounded by harpoons struck seawards, hauling a boat and crew 

 of twelve men nearly as far as Inchkeith ere it succumbed. There may be more than one species of 

 this Whale, widely distributed, but whether or not, their habits and general appearance have much in 

 common. 



A rather remarkable form is Risso's GRAMPUS,* inasmuch as its colouring and marking are so 

 variable, and in some cases so characteristic ; indeed, no two specimens yet obtained can be said to be 

 alike. The head is fuller and rounder than that of the Porpoise, and its flippers longer and narrower 

 in these respects approaching the Pilot Whale. The prevailing tint is grey, darker above, and 

 under parts paler, and in some there are a few indistinct and irregular lighter-coloured bandings. In 





Risso's GRAMPUS. (After Flower.) 



other examples, notably one obtained by M. Bisso in the Mediterranean, and by Professor Flower on 

 the British coast, the side of the body and even top of the head exhibited a mass of intercrossing, 

 wavy, scratched lines and spots of white and grey, following no special pattern. It has been found 

 both on the French and English coasts in spring and summer, but is suspected to be migratory, visiting 

 Europe in summer, and proceeding to the African or possibly the American continent towards winter. 

 The variation in colour has given rise to different specific names. Somewhat intermediate between the 

 foregoing and the Porpoises, are certain forms found on the Indian coasts and even the Irrawaddy 

 River ; the genus Orcella, for example, combining the head of the Pilot Whale with the body and 

 flippers of the Porpoise. 



THE COMMON PORPOISE,! the marsouin of the French or meerschwein of the Germans, is the 

 most familiar Cetacean of the British and adjoining coasts. Their average length is four or five 

 feet, though often more. The colour slightly varies with age and sex, more usually a polished bluish- 

 black tint on the upper parts, merging into a pink or mottled grey or whitish below. The dorsal fin 

 and flippers are both of moderate dimensions. Their head is roimdish, and not so blunt or bomb-like 

 as in the Globiceps, nor so sharp-nosed as in the true Dolphin tribe. Its diminutive eye, no visible ear, 

 tapering body, and broad tail are all markedly Cetacean in character, so that, though small, it gives a 

 very good idea of the Whale tribe generally. The semilunar transverse blow-hole as it rises to the 

 surface slightly opens, but in a tank no lofty jet of vapour is thrown up as is the case with the large 

 Whales at sea. In looking into the pink-coloured mouth one sees above and below a row of small 

 equal-sized simple teeth, and a flat tongue which is not protrusible. The dental formula is ^ =80, 

 or i=i =104> In structural detail, both internally and in the skeleton, it is a fair type of the group 

 Delphinidae. Porpoises either of the common sort or species barely to be distinguished from it have a 



* Grampus griseus. f Phocana communis. 



