PORPOISES AXD DOLPHINS. 43 



ill-defined ridge. The flippers are short, wide, and rounded. In colour the narwhal 



is dark grey or dusky above and white beneath, the back and sides being irregularly 



mottled with various shades of grey. The entire length may vary from 12 to about 



1G feet. A tusk measuring 8 feet in length had a basal girth of 7k inches. 



„. . ._ „ The narwhal resembles the Greenland whale in being an inhabit- 



Distnbution. " 



ant ot the icy polar seas, and like that species is circumpolar in its 



distribution ; it is, however, apparently local in its range, being, according to 



Captain Scammon, but rarely found in the seas accessible to the whalers who pass 



through the Behring Strait, Although seldom occurring to the south of the 65th 



parallel of north latitude, there are three instances (one in 1648, a second in 1800, 



and a third eight years later) of narwhals visiting the British coasts. From the 



extreme rarity of such occurrences, there is, however, no doubt that the individuals 



in question had been carried by currents out of their proper Libitat. From constant 



persecution, the numbers of the narwhal have been greatly reduced in the more 



accessible portions of its habitat : and according to Baron Noidenskibld, it is now 



never seen on the coasts of Novaia Zemlia. It is, however, more common at 



Hope Island, and large herds are reported from the seas between Spitsbergen and 



Novaia Zemlia. It is noteworthy that fossil remains of the narwhal have been 



found in the so-called forest-bed of the Norfolk coast, — a deposit laid down before 



the great cold of the glacial period, but when the temperature may have been 



steadily lowering, whereby Arctic animals were enabled to leave their more 



northerly haunts. 



Of the habits of narwhals, unfortunately very little is known. 



They are generally found in small schools, comprising from fifteen to 



twenty individuals; and were described long ago by Scoresby as being extremely 



playful in their disposition. Much has been written as to the use of the characteristic 



tusk, but nothing very definite has yet been ascertained with regard to it. That it 



is not employed for the purpose of procuring food, is perfectly evident from the 



fact of its absence in the female. A more probable suggestion is that it is used by 



the males in combats among themselves for the possession of the females ; in which 



case it should be regarded as a sexual appendage, analogous to the antlers of the 



deer. The food of the animal is stated to be mainly composed of cuttles and 



various crustaceans, together with small fishes. As a rule, but a single young is 



produced at a birth, but an instance of twins is on record. 



The narwhal is valued both for its ivory and its oil ; the latter 

 Products. . . J 



being of superior quality to ordinary whale-oil. The ivory of the 



tusk is very dense in structure, and of a pure creamy-white colour : but since the 



tusk is hollow throughout the greater part of its length, its value is much less than 



it would be otherwise. The price of narwhal tusks, although very variable is, 



however, considerable. 



The White Whale. 



Genus Delphinapterus. 



Nearly allied to the narwhal is the white whale, or beluga (Bdphinapterus 

 leucas), which is likewise an Arctic species. It resembles the narwhal in having 



