506 



PORPESSE. 



remarkably fat, being covered immediately un- 

 der the skin with a thick coat of lard, affording 

 a great quantity of oil. 



The Porpesse was once considered as a sump- 

 tuous article of food, and is said to have been oc- 

 casionally introduced at the tables of the old Eng- 

 lish nobility; and this so lately as the time of 

 Queen Elizabeth, It was eaten with a sauce 

 composed of crumbs of fine bread with sugar and 

 vinegar. It is however now generally neglected 

 ^ven by sailors. 



The Porpesse, being by far the most common, 

 and most easily obtained of all the European Ce- 

 tacea, has, of course, been more accurately exa- 

 mined than any other species ; Belon, Rondele- 

 tius, Tyson, and others, having given very good 

 descriptions of its internal structure ; and in or- 

 der to convey a general idea of the similarity of its 

 fabric to that of the terrestrial Mammalia, a figure 

 of an opened Porpesse is introduced into the pre- 

 sent publication ; some of the viscera being re- 

 moved, in order to shew others to greater advan- 

 tage. The skeleton is also represented on a sepa- 

 rate plate. 



