462 BELPHINIDiE. 



DELPHINID^. 

 CETACEA. 

 {ODONTOCETI.) 



Genus Delphinus (Linnaeus, 1766). 



Generic Character. — Head with well-marked produced beak ; a dorsal-fin. 

 Teeth conical, equal, and numerous in both jaws. Beak of skull usually as 

 long as brain-case, or eren longer. 



COMMON DOLPHIN. 



Delphinus delphis (Linn.). 



Specific Character. — Black above, shaded to brilliant white below. Teeth 

 Is'^o to |g:f; ; vertebra; 70 to 75. Length of adult 6 to 8 feet. 



Delphinus delphis, Linn^ds, Syst. Nat., I., 108 (1766). 



,, vulgaris, LAoip^DE, Hist. Nat. des Get., 260 (1804). 



AiXfls, Akistotlb, Hist. An. Z., VI., u. 12. 



Delphirms, Flint, Hist. Nat. Z., IX., c. 8. 



Ardluarsuk of Greenlanders, Springare of Swedes. 



The mythological and poetical associations which 

 belong to the Dolphin, its reputed attachment to man- 

 kind, its benevolent aid in cases of .shipwreck, its dedi- 

 cation to the gods, and many other attributes expressive 

 of the high estimation in which it was held in olden 

 times, afford a striking example of how the unre- 

 strained imagination of the ancients could raise the most 

 gorgeous structures of poetry and religion upon the 

 most slender basis. The story of Arion's escape on the 



