CETACEA. 147 



One 1ms been tliro\™ upon our coasts (D. micropterns, Cuv.), remarkable for the small size and backward posi- 

 tion of its dorsal fm ; it attains a length of fifteen feet, and loses all its teeth at an early a^e. [Only a sin^^le 

 specimen of this remarkable species has ever been obtained, which was cast upon the shore near Havre : its form 

 is slender and elongated, and the head is externally attached to the body by a distinct neck. No teeth were 

 discovered in either jaw in the recent state; but after the gums were removed, a few rudimentary teeth were 

 found in the lower jaw, as often happens in the upper jaw of the Cachalots. This animal constitutes the Aodon^ 

 we believe, of Lesson.] 



Another, which also sometimes occurs in our seas {D, rostralus, Cuv.), has a slender muzzle, externally all even 

 with the head, and twenty-one teeth on each side of both jaws. Its dorsal is of tlie ordinary size. 



The Soosoo of the Gani,^es (D. gangeiicus, Roxburgh) should be separated from the foregoing, having the 

 spiracle in a longitudinal line, and slender jaws swoln at the end. [Its teeth are thirty on each side above and 

 below, and according to M. F. Cuvier, the long symphysis and the intermaxillary crests approximate it to the 

 Cachalots.] It ascends very high up the Ganges, and is probably the Platanlsta of Pliny, [which might be 

 adopted as its generic designation]. 



The Porpoises {Phocmia, Cuv.) — 

 Have no licak [the largeness of the front-head compensating for its non-extension], but a short 

 muzzle, uniformly convex. 



The Common Porpoise (Dffph. pJioc<rna, Lin.), compressed and trenchant teeth, of a rounded form, to the 

 number of twenty-two or twenty-four on each side of both jaws ; blackish above, the under-parts white. It is 

 [nne of] the smallest of the Cetacea, not exceeding four or five feet in length, and is very common in all our 

 SLas, where it associates in vast herds. 



The Grampus {T). orcn and D. gladiator, Auct.). — Large conical teeth, a little crooked, eleven on each side above 

 and beloWj the posterior transversely flattened : body black above and white beneath ; a whitish crescent-shaped 

 mark over the eye; and the dorsal tin elevated and pointed. It is the largest of the Dolphin group, becoming 

 from twenty to twenty-five feet in length ; and is a cruel enemy to the Whale, which it attacks in troops, tor- 

 menting it till it opens its mouth, when they devour tlie tongue. 



A smaller species is occasionally met with on our coasts {D. arics, Risso ; [P//. griscus, F. Cuv.] ), which loses 

 its upper teeth at an early age, and retains but few of the lower : its dorsal fin is less elevated and placed further 

 backward than in the Grampus, which latter is the true Aries of the ancients. The Epaulard ventru of Bonaterre 

 presents a similar form ; but Hunter's specimen was eighteen feet in length, whereas the present species does not 

 exceed ten. 



[The species with globular heads compose the 



Globiceph.\lus, Lesson.] 

 The Peductor, or Ca'ing Whfile (DfJpli. globiceps, Cuv. \_Gl. deductor, Scoresby] ).— Head globular, with long and 

 pointed swimming paws ; attains a length of more than twenty feet ; and is black, with a white streak from the 

 throat to the anus. This species lives in troops of several hundreds, conducted by old males ; and is sometimes 

 thrown upon our coasts. It has from nine to thirteen teeth on each side above and below, but loses all of tliem 

 with age. [A beautiful second species (67. i^m'/'O exists in the .Mediterranean, and two others have been deh- 

 neated and described.] 



The Delphinapterus, Lacepede, — 



ATerclv differs from the Porpoises in having no dorsal fin. [Tliis name has more recently been con- 

 lined to such as have a beak like the Dolphins, the others constituting the 



Beluga, Lesson. 

 To the latter subdivision appertains] 



Tlie White Beluga {Delph. leucos, Gni. ; D. albicans, Fabr.), with nine teeth on each side above and below, 

 thick and blunt throughout ; a yellowish-white skin ; head externally convex like that of a Porpoise, [but more 

 ;i|iproaching to globular], and size that of a Grampus. It inhabits all the glacial seas, and sometimes ascends 

 rivers to some distance. [Is occasionally met with on the British coasts. 



To the restricted 



Delphinapterus — 



lielongs] 



The White-beaked Bolphin of Peron {D. leucoramphm, Per. ; {Ddphinnpicriis Peronii, Less.], an inhabitant of 

 the Austral seas, the head of which is but slightly convex and rather pointed, and the muzzle, part of the swim- 

 ming-paws, and all the under parts of the body, lustrous-white ; the superior portion black. It has from thirty- 

 ei'^dit to forty-two teeth on each side above and below.* 



* M Rtifinctiiue speaks uf n Polpliiii uilli two dorsal fiDs [on \il,irli I but as Ibc;- only s)i\v it at n distance, and lialf-iminersed in the waves, 

 l,r bcs'toM-s the appeUiition O-ij/pleriis] ; and M. M.Quoy ami Gaymard there may have bet:ii some optical delusion, 

 biivv one they have uamed Z>. rhirioccros, Foy. de Frei/ciiict, ii. f. -I ; l 



L 2 



