DOLPHINS. 435 



spout-holes are separate, but are covered with a common flap. The pectoral fin is moderate in 

 size, being about four feet long, and rather triangular in its form, and the dorsal fin is long 

 and slightly sickle-shaped. The head is remarkably large, and probably exceeds in length the 

 fourth of the entire bulk. 



This species is of considerable dimensions when adult, as it is known to measure from fifty 

 to sixty feet in length. In the lower jaw is a bountiful supply of teeth, white, powerful, and 

 conical. These teeth are very variable in number, in different species, varying altogether from 

 twenty -two to forty-four. An equal number of cartilaginous sockets are placed in the upper 

 jaw, into which the conical teeth are received when the mouth is closed. The teeth that are 

 placed in the middle of the jaw are larger and heavier than those of the front or base. Some 

 of these teeth will exceed nine inches in length, and weigh more than eighteen ounces when 

 perfectly dried. 



The root of each tooth is hollow in the centre to the depth of several inches, and is so 

 deeply buried in the jaw, that the projecting portion of the largest tooth rarely exceeds three 

 inches. The teeth range from seven to nine inches in length. These teeth are very white and 

 polished, are conical in their shape, tolerably sharp while the animal is young, but become 

 blunt as the creature increases in years and dimensions. 



The dimensions of one these animals have been very accurately given by Sibbald. 



In total length it measured between fifty-two and fifty- three feet, its girth at the largest 

 part of the body was rather more than thirty -two feet, and as it lay on the ground the height 

 of its back was twelve feet. The lower jaw was ten feet in length, and was furnished with 

 forty-two teeth, twenty-one on each side. Each tooth was slightly sickle-shaped, and curved 

 towards the throat. From the tip of the snout to the eyes was a distance of twelve feet, and 

 the upper part of the snout projected nearly five feet beyond the tip of the low T er jaw. The 

 eyes were remarkably small, about the size of those of the common haddock. As may be 

 supposed from the popular name of this animal, the color of its skin is almost uniformly 

 black. The throat is larger in proportion than that of other Whales. One of these animals 

 was thrown ashore at Nice, in the month of November, 1736. 



When the upper part of the head was opened, it was found to contain spermaceti, which 

 lay in a mass of two feet in thickness in the usual locality. The blow-hole is graphically 

 termed the "lum" or chimney. 



In concluding this brief history of the Whales, it must be once more remarked, that, in 

 spite of the earnest labors of many excellent observers, our knowledge of these wondrous 

 creatures is as yet exceedingly rudimentary, and even the genera are not clearly ascertained. 

 The native Greenlanders seem to possess a very large amount of information on this subject, 

 and are extremely accurate in their knowledge of the various Whales and their habits. It 

 has therefore been happily suggested, that succeeding voyagers should take advantage of this 

 circumstance, and should use their best endeavors to extract from those illiterate, but very 

 practical savages, the knowledge which they really possess. 



The Dolphins do not possess the enormous head which characterizes the true whales, 

 and have teeth in both jaws, although they are liable to fall out at an early age. The blow- 

 holes are united together, so as to form a single lunate opening, which is set transversely on 

 the crown of the head. When first bom, the young Dolphins are remarkable for their very 

 great proportional dimensions, being little less than one-fourth the size of the parent, and 

 affording a wonderful contrast to the marsupials, whose young are of such minute proportions 

 when first born. 



From the circumstance that the lower jaws are only furnished with two teeth, the rare 

 and curious animal which is represented in the accompanying illustration is sometimes scien- 

 tifically termed the Diodon, or two-toothed animal. But as this generic title has already been 

 appropriated to the urchin-fishes, the name has been more recently changed into Ziphius. 



In the animals which belong to this genus, the spout-holes are placed upon the top of the 

 head, the throat is furnished with two diverging furrows, and the teeth are only two in num- 

 ber, rather large in proportion to the skull, slightly curved and compressed, and are situated 



