34 NOTES ON CERTAIN FISHES, ETC., 



The Tursio or porpose is comon the Dolphin*^ more 

 rare though sometimes taken wch many confound with 

 the porpose. butt it hath a more waued line along the 

 skinne sharper toward ye tayle the head longer and 

 nose more extended wch maketh good the figure of 

 Rondeletius. the flesh more red & [fa crossed oul] well 

 cooked of very good taste to most palates & exceedeth 

 that of porpose. 



and about twenty years ago four were run ashore near Hunstanton, and 

 two had young ones after they had come to land." A so-called Grampus 

 which came ashore on the 2ist July, 1700, was from a description and 

 drawing in the le Strange MS. above quoted, a male Hyperoodon rostratus, 

 apparently nearly adult. 



The Grampus {Orca gladiator) (mentioned in the next paragraph) is 

 frequently met with in the British seas, and has repeatedly occurred on the 

 Norfolk coast. Some early occurrences are on record, for instance in 

 Mackerell's " History of Lynn," twelve are said to have come ashore near 

 that town in 1636, and another in 1680. Two very juvenile examoles were 

 taken off Yarmouth in November 1894. 



''^ There can be no doubt flat the Common Dolphin {Delphinus 

 delphis) is here referred to, and indeed this species might reasonably be 

 expected to be met with on our coast, as its range extends at least as far to 

 the north as the Scandinavian waters, but so far as the writer is aware 

 Browne's is the only record of its having been met with in Norfolk. The 

 White-beaked Dolphin (D. albirostris) is not unfrequent, but it is clear 

 that Browne does not refer to that species. 



In the " Vulgar Errors," Browne devotes a whole chapter (chapter ii. of 

 the fifth book) to a learned treatise on the " Picture of Dolphins," and in 

 one of the letters to his son Edward (Sloane MSS., 1847), dated June 

 14th [1676 ?], he writes feelingly as an anatomist, evidently fearing that a 

 specimen then available might be wasted, instead of being reserved for 

 scientific purposes ; for, says he, "if the dolphin were to be showed for 

 money in Norwich, little would bee got ; if they showed it in London they 

 are like to take out the viscera, and salt the fish, and then the dissection 

 will be unconsiderable." He then refers to the dolphin "opened when 

 the King was here," and describes its anatomical peculiarities, adding that 

 Dame Browne cooked the flesh "so as to make an excellent savory dish of 

 it," and that "collars" thereof (steaks cut transversely) being sent to the 

 King, who was then at Newmarket, for his table, they "were well liked 



f." It is evident therefore that he was present at the dissection of two 



f these animals. 



