ORDER VI. THE CETACEA. 2G7 



them to mount upon its back, and obey them with as much celerity as 

 precision. 



lie also narrates tliat a dolphin wliich had penetrated the Lake of Lucri- 

 nus, in Campania, every day received liread I'roin the hand of a cliild, re- 

 spondini; to his call, and transporting him on its back to school, at the oth.er 

 side of tiic lake. This intimacy continued for several years, when, the boy 

 dying, the aftcctionatc doljihin, overwhelmed with grief, soon sank under its 

 bereavement. Other tales, equally extraordinary, arc recorded, and many 

 contain some admixture of truth, as its cerebral development would indicate 

 a superior degree of intelligence. The weight of the brain, in relation to the 

 whole body, is tlic same as tliat of man, viz., one to twenty-five. 



The common dolphin is, usually, six or seven icct long. It is black on 

 the back, grayish on the flanks, and white underncatli. It is common to all 

 seas, navigates the waters of tlic ocean in more or less munerous troops, and 

 the vigorous springs and rapid swinnning of these animals have long made 

 tliem famous. 



D. Pernellil. — Pernetty's Doliihin. The following is rernctty's de- 

 scription of one, captured off the Cape dc Verd Islands : " The anterior part 

 of the head terminates in a hood near the root of the muzzle, and tliere pre- 

 sents something like the edge of a cloak ; the back was black, and the abdo- 

 men of a pearly gray-color, verging to yellowish, dappled with spots : the 

 teeth were sharp, and in tlic form of tiiose of tlic pike. These creatures 

 appeared to have come only to amuse us ; they made extraordinary leaps out 

 of the water, and many of them in their capering vaulted four feet high, and 

 turned over two or three times in the air." 



The specimen examined by Pernctty weighed about one hundred pounds ; 

 its beak was slender, and covered with a thick, grayish skin. 



D. Fluinheus. — The Lead-colored Dolpliin. The length of this species 

 is about eight feet. They frequent the coasts of Malabar, where M. Dus- 

 sumier observed them pursuing the shoals of pilchards. They are not so 

 active as the ocean dolphins. They are cauglit sometimes in nets, but being- 

 very sagacious animals, they most frequently find means to avoid the snare. 

 The noise of a musket makes them fly in all directions, and after having sunk 

 under water, they take a direction different from that wliich their plunge 

 would have indicated, for the purpose of deceiving their pursuers. 



D. Frccnalus. — The Bridled Dolphin. This dolphin is about four feet 

 and a half long ; the dorsal fin is nearly in tlie middle of the body. It is 

 black on the liack, lighter on the sides, and the belly is white. The head is 

 black above ; the sides are of an ash- color, and a band of a deeper shade 

 forms a mustache on the cheek, which extends from the angle of the mouth 

 underneath the eyes. It frequents the Cape de Verd Islands. 



