THE NARWHAL. 131 
The Spermaceti Whale, when it is in the open seas, lives chiefly on the 
“squids,” or cuttie-fish, which swarm in that ocean, and, when it approaches 
land, feeds on various fish. It seems, however, to dislike the prepinquity of 
the shore, and is very seldom taken in “soundings.” Itis a gregarious 
animal, being seldom seen alone, but in large herds, technically called 
“schools,” and consisting of several hundred in number. The “schools” 
are generally divided into two bands, the one consisting of young males and 
the other of females. Each band of females is under the command of several 
large males, who exercise the strictest discipline over their harems, and will 
not permit any intruder to join their society. From their office, these leaders 
are called the schoolmasters. 
The teeth of the Spermaceti Whale are conical and slightly curved, some- 
times reaching the length of some eight or nine inches. To Europeans these 
teeth are of great value, but to the Fijians, Tongans, &c., they are almost 
priceless, a single tooth being thought a present fit for one king to make to 
another, or to be laid up in a temple as an offering to the idol. 
The Spermaceti Whale does not seem to chvose any particular portion of 
the year for the production of its young, but is found at all seasons in 
charge’ of its offspring. Moreover, young Whales, or “cubs,” are found at 
all sizes and ages simultaneously roaming the seas, either in company with 
their parents or turned loose upon the world to shift for themselves. There 
is but a single cub at a birth. The milk of the animal is exceedingly rich 
and thick, as indeed is the case with the milk of all Whales. 
This animal is very widely spread over the world, as it is found in almost 
every portion of the aqueous portions of the globe, with the exception of the 
Polar Seas. Several of these creatures have been discovered off our own 
coasts, and a few have been stranded on the beach. A Cachalot measuring 
fifty-four feet in length was driven ashore in the Firth of Forth in 1769, 
and its appearance off the Orkneys is said to be no very uncommon occurrence. 
DOLPHINS. 
THE members of this family do not possess the enormous head which 
characterizes the true whales, and have teeth in both jaws, although they 
are liable to fall out at an early age. The blow-holes are united together, so 
as to form a single semilunar opening, which is set transversely on the 
crown of the head. 
The word NARWHAL is derived from the Gothic, signifying “ beaked 
whale,” and is a very appropriate term for the SEA UNICORN, as the animal 
is popularly entitled. The head of the Narwhal is round, and convex in 
front, the lower jaw being without teeth, and not so wide as the upper jaw. 
From the upper jaw of the Narwhal springs the curious weapon which has 
gained for the animal a world-wide reputation. 
In the upper jaw of the young or the female Narwhal are found two small 
or hollow tusks, imbedded in the bone, which, in the female, are generally 
undeveloped throughout the whole of the animal’s existence, but in the male 
Narwhal are strangely modified. The right tusk remains in its infantine 
state, excepting that the hollow becomes filled with bony substance ; but the 
left tusk rapidly increases in length, and is developed into a long, spiral, 
tapering rod of ivory, sometimes attaining to the length of eight or ten feet. 
The tusks are supposed to be formed by an excessive growth of the canine 
teeth, and not of the incisors, as might be supposed from the position which 
they occupy in the jaw. 
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