94 



forming in its union witli the gums a thickened pad, resembling lips ; 

 when the mouth is closed, the upper lip overlaps the under one evenly 

 all round ; pectoral fin elongate, obtusely pointed ; dorsal fin central, 

 slightly spined or tuberculated anteriorly. 



PHOCiEifA coMMTTNis,^ Brookcs. The common Porpoise.^ 



Synonyms — Delplnnus phoccBua, Linn. ; Bonnat ; Desm. ; Cuvier ; 

 Bell ; Turton ; Fleming ; NiLsson. 



Phoccena commtmis, Brooks; Gray, S. & "W., p. 303, 

 Suppl. 81. 



PhoccBna tuhercuUfera, Gray, S. and W., p. 304. 



Teeth ^5, compressed, rather stout. 



Colour of the upper portion of the body, a deep bluish black, fading 

 away on the sides, and becoming silvery white on the abdomen. In 

 length it ranges from four to six and a half feet, being probably the 

 smallest cetacean known. 



Inhab : North Sea, mostly in shore, frequently ascending rivers as far 

 as the waters continue salt. 



The porpoise was well known to Pliny, who described its form 

 accurately ; and in our time may be seen in great abundance, coasting 

 along the shores of the North Sea from the Mediterranean to the icy 

 regions of high latitudes ; but hitherto it has not been observed on our 

 side of the equator. 



The females are said to carry their young six months, and that the 

 cub at birth measures about 20 inches long. Mr. Knox, indeed, gives 

 us the particulars of one taken from a mother, killed in the Eirth of 

 Forth, of less tha.n 5 feet in length, which actually measured 27 inches, 

 or considerably more than one-third of the entire length of the parent. 

 The young are carefully attended to by their dams ; and it requires 

 about ten years before they attain to full maturity. 



In their every-day habits, porpoises resemble greatly the dolphins, 

 being equally fleet and voracious. Vast troops of them herd together, 

 keeping in shore, in pursuit of the periodic shoals of herrings, mackerel, 

 and other fish, to, as it may be easily imagined, their great destruction. 



These animals have been known to take a bait, and some have thus 

 been captured by the hook, although, in most instances, they prove too 

 strong for the line. This kind of fishing reminds one of the giant 

 angling, possibly derived from this source — " He sat upon a rock, and 

 bobbed for whale." 



^ coniiniinis, common. 



- Prom the French " poro-poisson" hog-fish. The porpoise is known to British 

 sailors by the names of sea-pig and herring-hog ; to the French, marsuin ; to the 

 Swedes, maravin ; and to the Q-ermans, meerschwmn. 



