538 



THE NARWHAL. 



wherewith he may wage war with those of his own species and sex who arouse his feel- 

 ings of jealousy, or would interfere with his supremacy. 



The food of the Narwhal consists chiefly of marine molluscs and of occasional fish, 

 but is found to be generally composed of the same kind of squid, or cuttle-fish, which 

 supplies the gigantic spermaceti whale with subsistence. As the remains of several flat 

 fish have been discovered in the stomach of the Narwhal, it was supposed by some 

 authors that the animal made use of its tusk as a fish-spear, transfixing them as they 

 lay " sluddering " on the mud or sand, after their usual fashion, thus preventing their 

 escape from the toothless mouth into which the wounded fish are then received. 

 However this may be, the force of the tusk is terrific when urged with the impetus of 

 the creature driving through the water at full speed, for the whole combined power of 

 the weight and velocity of the animal is directed along the line of the tusk. A Nar- 

 whal has been known to encounter a ship, and to drive its tusk through the sheathing, 

 and deeply into the timbers. The shock was probably fatal to the assailant, for the 

 tooth was snapped by the sudden blow, remaining in the hole which it had made, and 

 acting as a plug that effectually prevented the water from gaining admission into the 

 vessel. 





NARWHAL, Moaodon Monoceros. 



In some rare instances the right tusk has been developed instead of the left, and it is 

 supposed that if the developed tooth should be broken, the right tusk becomes vivified, 

 and supplies the place of the damaged weapon. One remarkable case is known where 

 both tusks were almost equally developed, being rather more than ten inches in length ; 

 and another example is recorded of a Narwhal which possesses two long tusks, the one 

 being seven feet five inches in length, and the other seven feet. These tusks diverge 

 slightly from each other, as their tips are thirteen inches asunder, though there is only 

 an interval of two inches between their bases. Both these specimens were females. 

 Sometimes the female Narwhal possesses a spear like her mate, but this circumstance 

 is probably the effect of age, which in so many creatures, such as the domestic fowl, 

 gives to the aged female the characteristics and armature of the male. 



As both these double-tusked Narwhals were females, it may be probable that they owed 

 their unusual weapons to some peculiarity in their structure, which prevented them from 



