74 SHARP-NOSED WHALE. Class IV. 



placed at nearly equal distances between the 

 belly and the ridge of the back ; the dorsal 

 fin is immediately over the line of the anus, 

 triangular, notched, and rather bending towards 

 the tail; the tongue is remarkably thick and 

 fleshy; the under side of the throat, and the 

 anterior part of the body, is plaited longitu- 

 dinally, which gives the animal an opportu- 

 nity of distending the skin, when the pouch 

 or bladder, with which nature has furnished 

 it, is inflated by the admission of air ; the 

 purpose of this pouch is not clearly understood, 

 but it appears calculated to counteract the weight 

 of the bones of the head, and to occasion the 

 velocity of swimming for which it is remarkable. 

 The folds of the plaited skin are red, as is a 

 portion of the upper lip ; the upper part of the 

 body is a deep black, the lower white, agree- 

 ably clouded with darker shades ; the pectoral 

 fins are white in the middle, black at the extre- 

 mity and base. 



The specimen described by Hunter in the 

 Philosophical Transactions was caught near the 

 Dogger Bank; it is said not to be uncommon 

 in the British channel. Its flesh is esteemed a 

 delicacy by the Greenlanders, who pursue it 

 with great zeal, but generally without effect 

 from the extreme velocity with which it swims. 

 Ed. 



