WHALES AND MERMAIDS 



329 



SO long, at least the second and third of them. The 

 second, which is the longest, contains no less than twelve 

 or thirteen bones, while the third has nine. There is 

 nothing like this elsewhere in the whole class of beasts. 

 Even the long fingers of the bats never have more bones 

 than have our own fingers. 



As to the head, it is very projecting and rounded in 

 front, a fact due to the presence of a great cushion of fat 

 on the anterior part of the upper jaw and in front of the 

 blow-hole (or single external aperture) of the nasal 



Fig. 82. 



THE ROUND-HEADED PORPOISS . 



passages. The animal is of a deep rich black, except the 

 throat and belly, which are white. It is very widely 

 distributed from the North Atlantic to Australia, and it 

 has been so often observed that its habits are pretty well 

 known. It will eat herrings, ling, and such creatures, 

 but its favourite food consists of cuttle-fishes. The 

 round-headed porpoise is a very gregarious animal, and, 

 very unlike the grampvis, is mild and inoffensive as well 

 as sociable. Their sociability is fatal to them, since as 

 soon as one is attacked or driven on shore they instinct- 

 ively rush together and blindly follow the stranded 

 individual till they are stranded also. The inhabitants 



