202 



DeLPUIMD/E.- 



-MAMMALIA.- 



-DELPIIIXIDiE. 



palates, and the nostrila are united into a single, lunate, 

 transversely disposed blow-hole. In some species 

 the teeth are deciduous ; in all they are simple in 

 structure, and of a more or less conical form ; the head 

 is likewnse of moderate size. The intestinal canal is 

 jiot furnishcil with a copcum. 



THE BOTTLE-HEAD {Hijperoodon Batzkopf) is an 

 iiihaljitant of the north sea, and occasionally makes its 

 appearance on our shores. It is readily distinguished 

 by the attenuated character of the fore-part of the 

 muzzle, wliich is prolonged so as to resemble a beak, 

 and was, in consequence, termed the Beaked whale by 

 Pennant. The earliest accoimt we have of its occur- 

 rence, is that given by Dale in his "History of Hai-wich," 

 from a specimen taken off the coast, near Maiden, m 

 the year 1717. Its length was fourteen feet, the cir- 

 cimiference of the body seven and a half; the flippers 

 being seventeen niches, and the dorsal fin a foot in 

 length. On this subject Dr. Collmgwood makes the 

 following remark in his brochure previously cited: — 

 "In the Philosophical Trans, for 1787, in the paper by 

 Ilmiter ' On the structure and economy of whales,' is a 

 meagre account of bottle-nosed whales with two teeth, 

 ■\vith a figure of the animal. Hunter adds, that 'it was 

 caught above London bridge in the year 1783, and 

 became the property of the late Mr. Alderman Pugh, 

 who very politely allowed me to examine the structure, 

 and take away the bones. It was twenty-one feet 

 long.' Mr. Bell's figure is a reduced copy of our 

 whale as given by John Himter. Hunter was doubtful 

 of its species, saying, that it resembled Dclphimis Tur- 

 sio (the Bottle-nosed dolphin), but was of a different 

 genus, having only two teeth in the lower jaw, con- 

 cealed by the gum. The belly was white, shaded off 

 to the dark colour of the back. He, however, rightly 

 conjectured that it was the species described by Dale 

 ("Harwich," 411, pi. 14), viz. Hyperoodon Butzhopf, 

 and supposes -it to have been a yoimg one, as he men- 

 tions a skull which must have belonged to one tlrirty or 

 forty feet long." Dr. Collingwood has, we fear, in 

 the remaining part of his "note" confomided Dale's 

 and Hunter's specimens, and has called the editor of 

 Pennant to accomit for a discrepancy in respect of 

 measurement — himself altogether overlooking tlie cir- 

 cumstance, that Dale's specimen was stranded seventy 

 years before Hmiter's esample appeared in the Thames. 

 In our edition of Pennant (1776) the length of the 

 Maldon specimen is correctly given as fourteen feet, 

 and thus coiTesponds witli the original description ; in 

 the edition to which Dr. CoUingivood refers, it is given 

 as eleven feet, which is probably a misprint. Li con- 

 clusion, we may observe, that a series of careful 

 dissections of another example of this rare and mter- 

 esting cetacean may l)e seen in the Anatomical Museum 

 of the University of Edinburgh. 



THE NAEWHAX {Monodon monosceros) — Plate 27, 

 fig. 86 — or Unicorn-whale, is readily distinguished by 

 its remarkable tusk-like tooth which projects several 

 feet in a horizontal direction from the left side of the 

 upper jaw; the tooth of the opposite side being imper- 

 fectly developed, and remainuig permanently concealed 

 within the alveolus. It is not ceitain whether these 

 teeth should be regarded as incisors or canines, as 



their sockets are placed between the maxillary and 

 inteiTnaxillary bones ; 3'et, from the circumstance of 

 the base of their roots being somewhat m front of the 

 ineiso-maxillaiy siiture, we hicline to the persuasion 

 that they are incisors. The left nostril is smaller than 

 the right. The colour of the adult Narwhal is dark 

 above, wliitisb and marbled at the sides, imderneath ; 

 in young individuals the hide is uniformly black. Tlie 

 Narwhal is a swift swimmer, and gregarious in its 

 habits; and as it feeds chiefly upon small mohusoous 

 animals, it is difficult to say what is the express pur- 

 pose of the large tusk. According to Dr. Scoresby, it 

 is employed to destroy large fishes, such as skates and 

 turbot, specimens of this whale having been found to 

 contain the remains of such fishes in their stomachs. 

 Tlie Greenland missionary, Mr. Egede, a translation 

 of whose work was published in Ijondon in 1745, 

 stated that the tusk is used in piercmg ice for the 

 puipose of enabling the creatures to obtain fresh air, 

 without always seeking the open water. Others regard it 

 simply as a weapon of offence and defence, and many 

 exaggerated accounts of its powers in this respect have 

 been recorded by Lacepede and others. The ivory 

 of the tusk is very white and dense, and capable of 

 yielding a high polish. Lacepede, in his " Histoire 

 Naturelle des Cetacees," gives a figure of the head 

 of a Narwhal in which both of the teeth were devel- 

 oped to nearly equal length. The quality of the oil 

 obtained from the blubber is superior, and the flesh is 

 much prized by the Greenlanders. Several instances 

 have been recorded of this animal's appearance on our 

 shores. The first is that described by Tulpius in 1648, 

 the specimen being twenty-two feet long. Another was 

 thrown on the Lincolnshire coast, near Boston, in 1800, 

 and a third was found close by the shore, at the entrance 

 of the sound of Weesdale in Zetland, on the mornmg 

 of the 27th of September, 1808. Tlie last specimen was 

 most carefully anatomized by Dr. Fleming of Edinburgh, 

 who was then minister of Bressaj', and who afterwards 

 communicated a minute description to the Wemerian 

 Society, wliich is published in the first volume of tlie 

 Transactions, p. 131, with three accompanyuig figures. 

 The animal measured only twelve feet from the snout 

 to the notch which divides the tail. The flippers were 

 fifteen inches in length ; the tusk measm-ed only 

 thirty -nine inches; and, as in others, was spirally 

 grooved or t-nisted, and striated externally from right 

 to left, tapering to a blunt and solid point. The oil 

 jdelded by this example was of inferior quality. Dr. 

 Fleming expressed an opinion that tliere might be 

 two species of Narwhals, viz., tlie common and the 

 small-headed — referruig the example in question to the 

 latter. Eespeeting the Lincolnshire specimen which 

 was taken at the tillage of Frieston, near Boston, Sir 

 Joseph Banks, in a letter to Dr. Fleming, observes : 

 — " The animal when foimd, had buried the whole 

 of its body in the mud of wliich the beach is there 

 composed, and seemed safely and securely waiting the 

 return of the tide. A fisherman going to his boat saw 

 the horn, which was covered up, and trying to pull it 

 out of the mud, raised the animal, who stirred himself 

 hastily to secure his horn from the attack " Although 

 Sir Joseph Banks communicated similar particulars to 



