146 WHALES AND PORPOISES 
THE DOLPHIN AND PORPOISE FAMILY 
Delphinidae 
This Family contains a number of different groups of 
animals, some of which are sharply distinct, and are not 
called by either of those names. The porpoises are distin- 
guished by their blunt noses and the dolphins by their long, 
pointed noses and elongated, beak-like jaws. Unfortunately 
for our purpose, there are a few porpoises with long snouts, 
and a few dolphins with short, blunt noses; and consequently 
the two groups run together so confusingly that it is impossible 
to lay down any rules by which one may always be distin- 
guished from the other. We shall therefore shorten our 
work by setting forth the species most worth knowing and 
by leaving the anatomical details of the different genera to 
be learned in the future. 
Tue Waite “‘ WHALE,’ 
the northern hemisphere, is not really a whale, but a member 
of the Dolphin Family. It is creamy white all over, and 16 
feet long; has several times been exhibited in aquaria and 
shows, and is known personally to millions of Americans. 
One of the fine specimens exhibited in the New York Aqua- 
rium in 1897 met its death from suffocation caused by a live 
eel becoming immovably fixed in its blow-hole, and shutting 
off its breath so suddenly that the mammal died before the 
fish could be removed. This species ascends the Yukon 
River, Alaska, for 700 miles, and is also an inhabitant of 
the St. Lawrence. Dr. Goode states that the food of the 
1 Del-phin-ap'ter-us leu'cas. 
>’ 
or Brexuaa,! of the upper half of 
