260 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



each side, above and below that is, from 160 to 200 in all. They feed on fish, medusae, and 

 crustaceans ; and they congregate in great herds, never being seen alone. This species inhabits the 

 North Sea, the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean ; but the different genera and species of the Dolphins 

 have a wide range over the seas of the warmer and of the temperate zones ; some even ascending rivers 

 after their prey. As a group their habits are considerably alike, and they are all excessively playful 

 and active, and seem to delight in gambolling around vessels, 



" Or dive below, or on the surface leap, 

 And spout the waves, and wanton in the deep." 



THE WHITE WHALE, OR BELUGA.* In September, 1877, a White Whale nine feet and a half long, 



which had been captured on the coast of Labrador, arrived at the Westminster Aquarium. Though 

 not of the largest size for they attain a length of even sixteen feet this example nevertheless was 

 characteristic. Symmetrical in form, creamy white in colour, without dorsal fin, with short stumpy 

 flippers, and a bulging- rounded forehead, there could be no mistaking the species. Unfortunately 

 it lived but a few days, though Mr. Barnum was more fortunate in keeping these creatures alive in a 

 tank in his museum at New York. The dental formula of the Beluga is ~j =32 ; or |^ = 40 ; the 

 small conical teeth are implanted only in the front of the jaws, and frequently drop out early in life. 

 It is abundant over a wide area of the northern regions, and is very partial to ascending rivers 

 after fish, for a long distance. Dall records one taken 700 miles tip the Yukon river, and Nordmann 

 mentions that it ascends the river Amoor. It is well known in the St. Lawrence and Labrador 

 coasts, as also in the White Sea, where there is a regular White Whale fishery ; but withal it is truly 

 a Greenland Cetacean, being found there all the year round. Like the Narwhal it is very gregarious, 



* Beluga leucas. 





