Class IV. PORPESSE DOLPHIN. 95 



or from their rooting like swine, they are called 

 in many places sea hogs; the Germans call 

 them meerschwein ; the Swedes, marsuin; and 

 the English, porpesse, from the Italian, porco 

 pesce. 



It would be curious to trace the revolutions 

 of fashion in the article of eatables ; what epi- 

 cure first rejected the Sea-Gull and Heron; 

 and what delicate, stomach first nauseated the 

 greasy flesh of the Porpesse. This latter was 

 once a royal dish, even as late as the reign of 

 Henry VIII. and from its magnitude must have 

 held a very respectable station at the table ; in 

 a houshold book of that prince, extracts of 

 which are published in the third volume of the 

 Archceologia, it is ordered that if a Porpesse 

 should be too big for a horse-load, allowance 

 should be made to the purveyor. I find that 

 this fish continued in vogue even in the reign of 

 Elizabeth. 



