li 



THE DOLPHIN?. 



■with boats, from which the fifhermen flioot them with 

 fire arms*. 



In their internal ftru£lure thefe animals refemble qua- 

 drupeds, and the otiier cetaceous fifhes. Conception is be- 

 gun by the introduftion of'femen, and after ten months, 

 a perfect animal is produced. They bring forth their 

 young only in the fummer feafon f ; in the m.onth of Oc- 

 tober the fcetus has been extrafted from a dolphin but 

 ncwiy begun to form J. The young, after being pro- 

 duced, continue to follow the parent, till they have at- 

 tained their full fize, which is in about ten years. The 

 longevity of thefe fiihes was computed by Ariflotk to be 

 upwards of thirfy years : The method pra£l;ired to afcer- 

 tain it, feems but an aukward one : it was, by cutting off 

 a part from the tail fin, and returning the animal to the 

 fea; and if the fifli happened afterwards to be taken, its 

 age was guefTed at from that circumftcnce. 



2^f Dolphin §. 



C/ONCERNING the figure of the dolphin, properly fo cat- 

 led, the ideas of the ancients were exceedingly erroneous. 

 Upon their marbles and coins, they are miiformly defigned 



of 



• Goldfmlth's Nar. HIil. 



t Miftot. Hift. anim. lib. vi, 



^ Willough. lib. ii. p. 30. 



§ Delphiaus Anti^uoruni. Wiilough. Le Dauphin. Briflon. 



