38 



ARCTIC PROVINCE. 



musculus, pliysalis, and rostrata are all inhabitants of 

 the Spitzbergen seas. 



This, too, is the realm of the sea-unicorn, a crea- 

 ture quite as strange, but not as fabulous as the 

 terrestrial animal, whose golden image is so familiar 

 to us in England. The narwhal (Monodon mono- 

 ceros) derives his popular misnomer from the enor- 

 mous tusk, projecting from its upper jaw, the 

 fellow tooth being undeveloped. What purpose 

 this formidable weapon serves, has not yet been 

 clearly made out, and the balance of opinion inclines 

 to decide that it is no instrument of defence, but 

 rather a mark of superior dignity ; a sceptre wielded 

 by the male sex alone, to assert in the most promi- 

 nent fashion their superiority over their gentler 

 mates. Be that as it may, this curious creature is 

 certainly one of the most interesting and peculiar 

 inhabitants of the Arctic seas. 



Of the dolphins that frequent the Spitzbergen 

 seas, the "White Whale," or Bjeluga (Delphinus 

 leucos) is the one chiefly turned to account in the 

 North. But they are much more numerous near 

 the continental portions of the Arctic province than 

 in its remoter abysses. 



A striking feature is the paucity of fish at Spitz- 

 bergen. In Scoresby's zoological summary but six 

 species are indicated, to four of which names are 

 attached. Phipps met with two kinds of fish only, 

 although he seems to have made diligent search for 

 them, and to have used the trawl freely with that 



