456 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



convex: but the most characteristic trait, is a sort of white 

 crescent on the upper part, which contrasts strongly with 

 the deep tint of the rest of the body in this part. The 

 shortness of the muzzle gives it an appearance of being 

 truncated ; the jaws of equal length, are armed with very 

 sharp teeth, and the eye much more elevated than the com- 

 missure of the lips, is yet as near as they are to the 

 termination of the muzzle ; the pectoral fins near six feet 

 long and three broad, are flat and widened in the shape of 

 a spatula ; the dorsal which has been compared to an 

 immense sabre, is much longer than that of the Ore : it is 

 almost on the nape of the neck ; its elevation is sometimes 

 six feet. The caudal fin is divided into two lobes which 

 leave between their reciprocal extremities almost a space 

 of about nine feet : they form a crescent, the concavity of 

 which looks to the muzzle. 



They are found in Davis's Straits, on the coasts of Ame- 

 rica and Spitzbergen, in troops of from six to eight. They 

 live usually on fish, but will attack the Common Whale, 

 especially when young : they assail him on all sides. This 

 peaceable animal, tormented, harassed, and even forced 

 to succumb under the attacks of these audacious adver- 

 saries, opens his mouth to respire a little ; in an instant 

 these ferocious assassins seize with fury upon his tongue 

 and tear it to atoms. 



The Nesarnack (Delph. Nesarnack, LacepJ is found in 

 the Northern Atlantic ; the natives of those coasts feed upon 

 its flesh, fat, and entrails. It is more than nine feet long, 

 and its greatest thickness is between the pectoral and dor- 

 sal fin ; the skin is blackish above and white underneath. 



The head is rounded ; the muzzle flattened, and bears 

 some resemblance to the beak of a duck ; the two jaws, of 

 which the lower is the longest, are furnished with forty- 

 two cylindrical teeth, straight, and very much blunted at the 

 summits. 



