THE DOLPHIN. 



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amusement, springing high out of the water and delivering the most terrific blows with 

 its tail on the object of its pursuit. For the co-operation of the sword-fish he does not 

 vouch, but has remarked that the whale does not seek refuge in the ocean depths when 

 thus persecuted, but makes short and hurried attempts to dive, seeming to be prevented 

 from making its escape by some allied force beneath. 



APART from the marvellous tales which were once rife concerning the beauty and 

 accomplishments of the DOLPHIN, the animal is well worthy of notice, and needs no aid 

 of fictitious narrative to embrace its value in the eyes of the naturalist or the observer. 



The Dolphin is remarkable for the enormous number of teeth which stud its mouth, 

 no less than forty-seven being found on each side of both jaws, the full complement being 

 one hundred and ninety. In the head of one specimen were found fifty teeth on each 

 side of each jaw, making a complement of two hundred in all. Between each tooth there 

 is a space equal to the width of a single tooth, so that when the animal closes its mouth 

 the teeth of both jaws interlock perfectly. All the teeth are sharply pointed and 

 flattened, and slightly curved backward, so that the entire apparatus is wonderfully 

 adapted for the retention of the slippery marine creatures on which the Dolphin feeds. 



DOLPHIN. De/pAtous Dc/pA/s. 



Fish of various kinds form the usual diet of the Dolphin, which especially delights 

 in the fiat fishes of our coasts, and often prowls about the shoals of herrings and pil- 

 chards that periodically reach our shores. 



The Dolphin is not a very large animal, measuring when full grown, from six to ten 

 feet in length, seven feet being the usual average. Its color is black upon the back, 

 and silvery-white upon the abdomen, while the flanks are grayish-white. There is a 

 peculiar satin-like sheen upon the skin when the animal is submerged beneath the water 

 or freshly removed from the sea, but which rapidly disappears as the skin becomes dry. 

 The beautiful colors which have been said to play about the body of a dying Dolphin 

 are not entirely mythical, but belong rightly to one of the fishes, the coryphene, or 

 dorado, which is popularly called the Dolphin by sailors. 



The eyes of the Dolphin are small, and are supplied with eyelids ; the pupil of the 

 eye is heart-shaped. The ears have but a very minute external aperture, barely 

 admitting an ordinary pin, so that its sense of hearing appears to be very limited. 



In former days the flesh of the Dolphin was thought to be a very great luxury, so 

 great, indeed, that a Dolphin was considered as a noble present to be made to the 

 Duke of Norfork by Dr. Caius, the well-known founder of the college bearing his name. 



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