THE SPERM WHALES. 



575 



jaw backward on each side of the mouth; a similar 

 furrow is found farther back at the throat; the rest 

 of the skin is smooth and glistening, of a more or 

 less uniform black tint, but as a rule darker on the 

 upper than on the lower surface. 



The range of the Bottle-nosed Dolphin seems to 

 be restricted to the Arctic Ocean and the north of 

 the Atlantic; but it undertakes regular migrations 

 thence, which lead it into waters that are a consid- 

 erable distance south of its usual range. It makes 

 an annual appearance near the Faroe Islands and 

 not infrequently appears off the coasts of Great 

 Britain and even ascends some of the favorably 

 situated British rivers. Cuttle-fish, moUusks and 

 small fish form its diet. Of the former it consumes 

 enormous numbers: the remains of over 10,000 of 

 these animals have been found in the stomach of a 

 captured specimen. Kuekenthal affirms that its div- 



greater part of their length, and are beset with an 

 array of conical teeth of nearly equal length, while 

 the dental formations of the upper jaws hardly de- 

 serve the name of teeth. 



Description of The Sperm Whale is inferior in size 

 ttie Sperm only to some of the largest Whale- 

 Whale. bone Whales. There are statements 

 to the effect that some old males have been encoun- 

 tered which measured one hundred feet, but one will 

 probably come nearer the truth, when no exact meas- 

 urements are given, if he accepts the length to range 

 between sixty-six and seventy-six feet, the circum- 

 ference between thirty and forty feet and a width of 

 tail of sixteen and one-half feet. This holds good 

 for male or "bull" Whales, for the females are, 

 without exception, considerably smaller, not eveji 

 attaining half the length of the males. In propor- 

 tion to the dimensions of the body the pectoral fins 



THIf WA-RWH AT This species diffeis so gieatly from all other members of the order of the Whales that it is classed alone in a sepa- 

 rate Eenuf Its most characteristic feature is found in th. long tusks which project from six to teii feet; and another is the numerous spots which 

 mark fts sWes. TtTs plentiful in all the seas of the north, but is rarely seen south of the Arctic circle. (^Monodon monocerus.) 



In the largest of the Sperm 



ing powers are remarkable considering its compara- 

 tively small size: a harpooned Bottle-nose took off 

 three hundred fathoms of line and remained forty- 

 five minutes under water. 



^be Sperm iKHbales. 



SIXTH FAMILY: Catodontid^. 



The fourth family of the Toothed Whales i^Cato- 

 dontidce) is represented by the Cachalot Spermaceti 

 Whale or Sperm Whale {Catodo?, or Physcter macro- 

 cephalus), the type of the genus of the same name 

 (Catodon), the most uncouth member of the whole 

 order. It is, characterized by its enormous head, 

 protuberant at the extremity of the snout and ab- 

 ruptly cut off; by the possession of a single blow- 

 hole, placed somewhat to the left, and by the pecul- 

 iar formation of the lower jaw, the two ha ves of 

 which lie close together and almost parallel for the 



are remarkably small. 



Whales they measure only six and one-half feet in 

 length and forty inches in width. The huge, block- 

 like head, which is abruptly truncated in front, has 

 the same height and breadth as the body, into which 

 it merges without distinct demarcation or the inter- 

 position of a neck. The body is very thick in the 

 anterior two-thirds and then tapers towards the tail. 

 In the last third there is a low, humpy bulbous, im- 

 mobile dorsal fin, which sometimes has a cut-off 

 appearance behind and gradually merges into the 

 body in front. The short, broad, thick pectoral fins 

 are placed immediately behind the eyes and have 

 five longitudinal furrows on the upper surface, cor- 

 responding to the five phalanges or fingers encased 

 in the integument, while the lower surface is smooth. 

 The tail-fin is not deeply forked and has two flukes, 

 the margins of which are indented in youth. The 

 blow-hole is a slit of from eight to twelve inches, 

 and curved sorriewhat like the letter S ; in contra- 



