^6 MAMMALIA. CETACEA. Delphinaptera- 
Gen. XXXIII. DELPHINAPTERA. BELUGA.-Back 
destitute of a fin, but, in its place, the rudiments of a 
ridge. 
54. D. albicans.- — Snout abrupt, summits of the teeth trun- 
cated. 
Delphinus albicans, Fab. Faun. Gr. p. 50 Dr Barclay and Mr Neill^ 
Wern. Mem. iii. 371. tab. xvii — Scoresby, Arct. Reg. i. p. 500. tab. xiv. 
Rarely a visitant of the British seas. 
The length of the beluga is from 12 to 18 feet. The Jaws are equal. The 
teeth are nine on each side, in each jaw ; in the lower, short, obtuse, and 
distant ; in the upper, more acute and bent. The swimmers are subovate. 
The colour is usually white, occasionally with a tinge of red or yellow. It 
is gregarious and frequents the arctic seas, entering, large rivers like the Uk 
grampus. Two instances of the occurrence of this animal on our shores are ||jj 
now on record. One was killed near Stirling in June 1815 ; and Mr Bald I?*’ 
having procured the specimen, it was, submitted to Mr Neill and Dr Barclay 
for inspection, the former of whom has given an account of its external cha- L 
racters, the latter of its structure. The length of this individual was 13| feet, |- 
its greatest circumference 8 feet 1 1 inches ; breadth of the tail 3 feet ; swim- |j 
mers 2 feet long, and the same distance from the angle of the mouth ; gape ' 
10 inches. From angle of the mouth to the eye 2| inches. From tip of the 
upper jaw to the blow-hole 1 foot 10 inches. In the under jaw there were U 
six teeth on each side, broad and blunt ; in the upper jaw there were nine on J|| 
each side, but none immediately in front, the three backmost sharp, and with- ^ 
out any to match them in the lower jaw. It possessed four stomachs. The 
cervical vertebrae were 7 in number, the dorsal 11, and the lumbar 13. 
True ribs 6, and the false ribs 5 in number. Sternum broad and flat. The 
late Colonel Imrie informed Mr Neill, “ that, in August 1793, he saw two 
young belugas, which had been cast upon the beach of the Pentland Frith, 
some miles east of Thurso. The length of the one, from the front of the 
forehead to the tip of the tail, was 7 feet, and of the other 72* They were 
both males.” Hans Egede, in his Hist. Green. (London 1745) p. 75. when W 
speaking of this whale, states, that “ the train of his blubber is as clear as ^ ' 
the clearest oil. His flesh, as well as the fat, has no bad taste, and when it 
is marinated with vinegar and salt, it is as well tasted as any pork whatever. 
The flns also and the tail, pickled or sauced, are good eating. This fish is so 
far from being shy, that whole droves are seen about the ships at sea. The 
Greenlanders catch numbers of them, of which they make grand cheer.” 
b. Teeth Jew^ and confined to one jaw. 
Gen. XXXIV. HYPEROODON.— Snout produced, with 
two teeth in the lower jaw, and the palate furnished with 
tubercles. With a dorsal fin., 
55. H. hidens. Body reaching to the length of 25 feet. 
Bottle-head, Dale's Harwich, 411. tab. xiv. (Pennant.) — Bottle-nose, 
Hunter., Phil. Trans. 1787, p. 373. tab. xix — Physeter bidens, Sowerby^ 
Brit. Misc. tab. i Penn. Brit. Zool. 2d edit. 111. p. 88 — -Occasionally- 
taken on the British, shores. 
