146 WHALES AND PORPOISES 



THE DOLPHIN AND PORPOISE FAMILY 



Delphinidae 



This Family contains a number of different groups of 

 animals, some of which are sharply distinct, and are not 

 called by either of those names. The porpoises are distin- 

 guished by their blunt noses and the dolphins by their long, 

 pointed noses and elongated, beak-like jaws. Unfortunately 

 for our purpose, there are a few porpoises with long snouts, 

 and a few dolphins with short, blunt noses; and consequently 

 the two groups run together so conf usingly that it is impossible 

 to lay down any rules by which one may always be distin- 

 guished from the other. We shall therefore shorten our 

 work by setting forth the species most worth knowing and 

 by leaving the anatomical details of the different genera to 

 be learned in the future. 



THE WHITE "WHALE," or BELUGA, 1 of the upper half of 

 the northern hemisphere, is not really a whale, but a member 

 of the Dolphin Family. It is creamy white all over, and 16 

 feet long; has several times been exhibited in aquaria and 

 shows, and is known personally to millions of Americans. 

 One of the fine specimens exhibited in the New York Aqua- 

 rium in 1897 met its death from suffocation caused by a live 

 eel becoming immovably fixed in its blow-hole, and shutting 

 off its breath so suddenly that the mammal died before the 

 fish could be removed. This species ascends the Yukon 

 River, Alaska, for 700 miles, and is also an inhabitant of 

 the St. Lawrence. Dr. Goode states that the food of the 



1 Del-phin-ap'ter-us leu'cas. 



