Class IV. COMMON DOLPHIN. 91 



Upon the swelling waves the dolphins shew 

 Their bending backs, then swiftly darting go, 

 And in a thousand wreaths their bodies throw. 



TION. 



The natural shape of the dolphin is almost Descrip- 

 strait, the back being very slightly incurvated, 

 and the body slender ; the nose is long, narrow, 

 and pointed, not much unlike the beak of some 

 birds, for which reason the French call it Z' oi/e 

 de mer. It has in the upper jaw from twenty-four 

 to thirty teeth on each side, and in the lower 

 from twenty to twenty-six on each side, making, 

 in the whole, from eighty-eight to one hundred 

 and twelve.* These teeth are rather above an 

 inch long, conic at their upper end, sharp 

 pointed, f bending a little in. They are placed 

 at small distances from each other, so that 

 when the mouth is shut, the teeth of both 

 jaws lock into one another. The spout-hole is 

 placed in the middle of the head. The back 

 fin is high, triangular, and placed rather nearer 

 to the tail than to the head ; the pectoral fins 

 situated low ; the tail is semilunar ; the skin is 



* The above numbers are given on the authority of the reve- 

 rend Hugh Davies, who, in the year 1793, had an opportunity of 

 examining near a dozen of the species which were cast ashore 

 near Caernarvon. Ed. 



t Plate 3. Jig. 5. 



