 section 18 of the book of whales this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Mike Botez the book of whales by Frank Evers Bedard chapter 9 part 1 beaked whales family Defiidae another group is formed by the Defiades whales which should perhaps be only regarded as a subfamily of Defiinae the whales of this subfamily or family are of moderate size not exceeding so far as we know from actual measurement a little over 30 feet they are also fairly rare and seem for the most part to live singly so that their bodies have been but rarely thrown up upon the shore moreover they seem to be most prevalent in the southern hemisphere hence their occurrences would be far like clear upon the great stretches of desolate coasts which abound in the southern half of the globe to go unnoticed their rarity at present contrasts with the relative abundance which one obtained on the surface of the earth this leads remarks Sir W. Flower to the belief that the existing Defiades are the survivors of an ancient family which once played a far more important part than now among the cetacean inhabitants of the ocean but which have been gradually replaced by other forms and are themselves probably destined here long to share the fate of their once numerous allies or progenitors since the words just quoted were written in the year 1871 more has been discovered and written about this group of cetaceans but they still remain a group or family that requires much further study before they are as well known as some other families of cetaceans their rarity is emphasized by the fact that almost every individual seen or captured has received a different name the radius is only known by three specimens mesoplodon gray by two or three the late mr. pH goes thus wrote of a mysterious delfino rincus equals mesoplodon observed by himself in the Atlantic during my voyage to Jamaica when in latitude 19 North and longitude from 46 to 48 West the ship was surrounded for 17 continuous hours with a troop of whales of a species which is certainly undescribed I had ample opportunity for examination and found that it was a delfino rincus 30 feet in length black above and white beneath with a swimming paws white on the under surface and isolated by the surrounding black of the upper parts a very remarkable character this could not have been the toothless whale of hover and there is no other with which it can be confounded here then in a whale of large size occurring in the great numbers in North Atlantic which on no other occasion has fallen under scientific observation the toothless whale of hover it may be remarked named a wood on Dalai seems to be merely a toothless probably age example of mesoplodon be dense apart from high paradigm which has been long known and which is fairly abundant the zephydes whales were entirely unknown to science until the beginning of the present century and up to the year 1871 only some 30 individuals had been caught or stranded the zephydes whales agree in the following assemblage of characters one the functional teeth are limited to one or two pairs which are only developed in the mandible in addition to these there are a number of small teeth in both jaws which are not recognizable in skulls as they come away with the gums and are hidden by them during life to the skull is characterized by the marked prominence behind the nears by an elevation of the maxillae exceedingly developed in hyperadone by the long rostrum by the large solid teragoids which meet in the middle line and by a distinct and separate muller bone three the vertebrae are not more than 15 number their spines in the dorsal and lumbar regions are very long the transverse processes of the neural arches of the dorsal vertebrae as rule sees abruptly near to the end of the series and are replaced upon the succeeding vertebrae by similar processes which arise from the bodies of the vertebrae hyperadone is exceptional four the ribs are not more than 10 pairs the sternal ribs are permanently cartilaginous five the blowhole is crescentic with the concavity forwards six the pectoral fin is rounded and not large the phalanges are not numerous seven there is a dorsal fin falcate in form eight the throat is marked by at least one pair quercumarc as two berardius of galler grooves similar to those of ballinoptera and fissita all the zephydes whales present these characters they agree with a fissiterine in having no functional teeth in the upper jaw in the general form of the skull in the characters of the transverse processes of the dorsal vertebrae in the cartilaginous sternal ribs and in the throat grooves but the zephydes whales differ from the cashelots in the fewness of their functional teeth and in the existence of a distinct malar bone in the latter point they agree with the mistacossetti it is possible that the zephydes also agree to differ from other whales in a small character which has been noticed at any rate in hyperadone in mesopladone and zephydes by scott and parker that is in the rounded projection between the flukes of the tail the genus mesopladone consists of moderately sized whales 15 to 17 feet or so in length skull with mesothmoid ossified the nasals are sunk between the upper ends of the premaxillae single pair of larger or smaller functional teeth in lower jaw embedded in mandible at or near middle vertebral formula c7 d9 or 10 l 10 or 11 ca 19 or 20 equals 46 or 48 atlas and axes fused sometimes also third sternum of four or five pieces eight ribs two-headed phalanges one one two six three six four three five two the most elaborate account of the skeleton of mesopladone is contained in sir w flowers description of the osteology of most of the species the skull agrees with that of zephydes and differs from that of hyperadone and berardius in the thorough ossification of the mesothmoid and its coalescence with surrounding bones to form the very solid rostrum which in the adult has a density of ivory the tympanic bone of this genus differs from that of zephyus in having a well marked groove at the posterior end between the lobes in this matter mesopladone agrees with berardius and differs from hyperadone which in its turn agrees with zephyus zephyus and hyperadone are nearer in this particular to visitor and the two other zephyde genre to the dolphins in these beaked whales the breath of the base of the rostrum and the relative positions of the two foramina for the exit of the two branches of the second division of the fifth nerve offer characters which are made use of following sir w flower in the characterization of the species of the genus the maxillae have the characteristic ridges of the zephydes whales especially in m hectaree the nasals are sunk between the extremities of the premaxillae the relations of the pelotines and teregoids differ somewhat and are made use of to distinguish the species m australis and m densirostris the vertebral formulae of several individuals are as follows m gray c 7 d 10 l 11 ca 20 equals 48 m australis c 7 d 9 l 11 ca 20 equals 47 m bidens c 7 d 10 l 10 ca 19 equals 46 another individual of m bidens c 7 d 10 l 9 ca 20 equals 46 m liar day c 7 d 10 l 10 ca 19 equals 46 there are thus no specific characters at all obvious to be deduced from the numbers of the vertebrae in both m australis and m gray the atlas and axes alone were united the least amount of union existing in any zephydes whale and one of the skeletons was that of an adult animal the same amount of union has been observed in two specimens of m bidens in m liar day the first three vertebrae were united the rest three the high spines of the dorsal and lambar vertebrae and the absence of a slope backwards in those vertebral spines allies the present genus to zephyas and hyperodon and distinguishes it from berardios zygopophysis extend to about the sixth vertebrae dorsal in m australis further back to the 10th in m gray the lambar vertebrae are strongly coronate below there are 11 chevron bones judging from the presence of articular facets the sternum has five distinct pieces in the immature m gray only four in the adult m australis in both there are notches between the successive elements which are naturally converted into foramina while there is a great uncertainty about the species of zephyas more is known thanks to the studies of sir w flower concerning the species of this genus mesopledon eight species at any rate can be clearly recognized mainly by the position and the characters of the teeth these eight species with their synonymy are as follows mesopledon bidens sour b equals dolphinus heterodon sour bensis blameville the sour b demare dolphin orencus micropterus cuvia mesopledon sour bensis van benedon micropteron bidens malm our don daly lesson this the first species of the genus is atlantic and north sea range it is thus to be characterized rostrum broad at base no basi rostral groove foramina for exit of two branches of second division of fifth nerve on a level tooth near hindr edge of mandibular synthesis its apex directed forwards this species is the only one that has ever been stranded on the shores of this country and not very many examples have been thus seen or acquired mr. lydica in british mammals in allen's naturalists series records 10 individuals of these the first is the one from which the species was originally described it was stranded on the shores of elgenshire and its skeleton is now in the oxford museum the very last specimen which the present writer had the pleasure of seeing in flesh is now at trink in the honorable walter roth child's museum this whale reaches a length of from 15 to 18 feet a specimen of this whale was captured hover in august 1828 and lived for two days out of the water it was offered soaked bread and other elementary substances it emitted a low cavernous sound like the lowing of a cow this specimen had no teeth and was named in consequence our dawn meso plodon europeus gervais equals the gervaisi de longsham rostrum broad at base no base irrotrol groove foramina of the second division of fifth nerve as in m biden's tooth at middle of mandibular synthesis this species is not to be regarded as certainly distinct from the last the only point it will be observed in the above definition relates to the position of the teeth dr. gray however erected it into a separate genus neo zephyrus it is based upon a single individual found floating in the sea at the entrance of the british channel about 1840 the skull is now in the museum at can there is really nothing more to be said about this animal meso plodon density rostris blaineville zephyrus succulences gray rostrum narrow at base base irrotrol groove present foramina for fifth nerve one behind the other tooth with vertical apex near hindr edge of mandibular synthesis this species has been taken at the se shales on the coast of south africa and at lord house island the species is based upon a skull and the skeleton of another animal meso plodon gray haste rostrum narrow at base base irrotrol groove present foramina of fifth nerve one behind the other tooth vertical near hindr end of jaw synthesis this whale was placed in a separate genus ulodon by von haste on account of the fact that the upper jaw is provided as are the jaws of other zephyrus whales with a row 19 on each side of small teeth entirely unconnected with bone and without any traces of sockets on the bone of the jaw it is doubtful however whether this character can be used to distinguish a genus since in m bydans there are similar teeth in both jaws and the same may be the case with other species of the genus although there is according to sir w flower no evidence of the presence of any such teeth in m australis or m hectare in meso plodon australis of flower which is the same as m hectare in part the rostrum is narrow at the base base irrotrol groove present foramina of the fifth nerve one behind the other tooth near hindr edge of synthesis this species was founded by sir w flower upon a skeleton which dr. Hector had referred to m hectare it would appear from the above definition to be nearer to m denserostris but there are points which serve to separate it from that species the most obvious is the fact that in m denserostris the palatines completely surround the anterior ends of the teregoids in m australis the former lie altogether outside the latter meso plodon leiardi gray with synonyms calidon gantheri gray dolicodon traversi gray meso plodon flowery haste is provided with a rostrum narrow at base base irrotrol grooves present to foramina of fifth nerve on a level tooth very large near hindr edge of mandibular synthesis this meso plodon is remarkable on account of the singular growth of the strap shape teeth these finally grow round the jaw so as to prevent their opening to the full extent at first the singular arrangement was naturally regarded as an abnormality but later it was found to characterize the species which is in this peculiar feature of its organization comparable to the saber toothed taiga it is like the last southern species meso plodon hectare gray equals berardius are noxy hectare meso plodon noxy hectare in this species the rostrum is broad at the base the base irrotrol grooves are absent foramina of fifth nerve on a level tooth close to apex of mandible of this species sir w flower wrote that it does certainly present some transitional characters between meso plodon and berardius but as it is only known by the skull of a very young animal it is scarcely safe to decide its position except provisionally it is of course the apical position of the mandibular teeth that has led to its confusion with berardius meso plodon hasty flower rostrum narrow at base base irrotrol grooves present foramina of fifth nerve one behind the other tooth very large near middle of jaw this species is only known from a rostrum and a mandible but the peculiar form triangular with a conical point and large size of teeth seem to mark it out finally there is the species meso plodon stina gerry of true which has an unusually large brain case half of the length of the skull no base irrotrol grooves and the two foramina one behind the other this skull which came from bearing straights has no lower jaw the genus hyperodon may be distinguished by the following features skull with enormous maxillary crests in adult males mesothmoid not fully ossified a single tooth on each ramus of lower jaw also numerous small teeth as zephyas vertebral formula c 7 d 9 l 9 ca 18 equals 43 cervicals fused into one mass the last sometimes free sternum consisting of three pieces the last of which is by fit posteriorly in more than one feature hyperodon of all zephydes comes nearest to fissita the great maxillary crests figure 29 are paralleled in fissita where however owing to their relative thinness they bound instead of diminishing through blocking up the cavity for the spermaceti in the vertebral column 2 is a striking point of likeness the first six ribs as in the zephydes are two-headed the capitular and tubercular attachments being in two successive vertebrae the seventh rib however is exactly like the 10th rib of the cashew lot it is attached to two processes of the seventh dorsal vertebrae which nearly join each other before they receive the rib fissita therefore in this particular is more like hyperodon than it is to its nearest ally kojia and both genre retain a trace of the arrangement characteristic of inia this genus comprises apparently but two species one with many aliases eg h butzkov h borealis is the northern h rostratum the other which seems to be perfectly distinct though only known from a single water and table worm skull comes from australian seas and was described by sir w flower as h planifrons thus like so many other genre of cetaceans hyperodon is a very wide range dr grace species latifrons made the type of a separate genus la genocetus was undoubtedly based upon an old example of hyperodon rostratum it has been shown that the forehead increases in squareness with the age of the animal as the accompanying figures derived from captain grace paper on the whale show it is interesting to note that it is the males which show this peculiar form the females nearly always remain in the condition of young males the square appearance of the head in front is produced by an increase in thickness of the crests of the maxile which this whale has in common with berardius only more developed even in the young end of section 18 recording by mike botez section 19 of the book of wales this is a libre vox recording all libre vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libre vox.org recording by mike botez the book of wales by frank evers bedard chapter nine part two hyperodon rostratum mula this whale is a common northern species and has been often recorded on our own coasts the first recorded occurrence was at maldon in sx in 1717 it varies in color from black in the young to light brown in the old animals very old animals turn a pale yellowish with white about them the under surface is always grayish white it will be noted that this change of color is very similar to that which takes place in beluga the length seemed to vary between 20 and 30 feet but hunter described a skull since missing which apparently belonged to a still larger specimen 30 or 40 feet long captain gray noted that the tail of this whale instead of being notched in the center as is common among whales was rounded as is shown in the accompanying figure figure 30 this species is gregarious going about in herds of from four to ten rarely more though captain gray has recorded a herd of 15 the animal is very unsuspicious owing no doubt to the fact that it has been until of late but little hunted the growing scarcity of the right whale has led to its being more actively pursued and it has been proved that the oil derivable from the animal differs but little from that produced by the right whale another habit of this whale has proved its destruction a herd will never leave a wounded comrade directly their company is dead they move away but not until they are extremely vigorous and hard to kill a bottle nose cannot merely leap out of the water that is a capability shared by many whales but it always takes the water on returning to it head first and can move its head while out of the water when harpooned this species has been known to stay under for two hours the young when born seem to be about 10 feet long at least a full grown fetus of this size was cut out of a mother 29 feet long it is rather an unusual fact but it is the case according to m buvia that in this species of whale the females are more numerous than the males the same writer in describing a specimen of the species found that the massive forehead is not a character of the male only m buvia's example was a female and had a well developed pair of maxillary crests like those figured on page two to three of the adult male it does not appear to be certain whether this specimen is to be relegated to the category of hands with cox combs and other instances of the old female occasionally taking on the characters of the male or not another sexual difference according to fischer is in the length of the pectoral fin in the male it is one seventh and in the female one 12th of the body length the greenlandish name of this whale an arnak expresses in a naive way the exceedingly purgative character of the fat of the hyperodon but although the fat has this unpleasant effect the flesh according to m buvia is eatable if rather insipid as is the case with other zephydes whales hyperodon rostratum has grooves up on the throat but there is some dispute as to the number of these one pair is the usual allowance but cookentall found four in embryos studied by him in an example of 20 feet long turner found these grooves to measure 19 inches another external character of importance is the presence or absence of hairs on the snout cookentall saw what he believed to be indications of four hairs on each side but a histological study did not give definite results in connection with the fact that a distinct voice is possessed by zephydes whales i may call attention to an observation by the reverend g beardsworth that an example of hyperodon swapped the third genus of this family berardius maybe thus defined skull very symmetrical nasals massive forming its vertex maxile with rugos eminence mess of moid only partially ossified teeth two on each side of lower jaw pointed with apices directed forward vertebral formula c 7 d 10 l 12 ca 19 equals 48 first three cervicals fused sternum five pieces eight ribs two headed as this genus consists of but one species which has been thoroughly studied the main features in its description will be considered under the description of the species instead of here it must be observed however that we do not at present know whether the rudimentary teeth present in the jaws of mesopladon are also present in berardius attention should also be directed to the fact that a specimen in the wellington museum has but one tooth on each side of each mandible hence it is clearly rushed to attempt to define the zephyde whales by the characters of their teeth alone berardius arnuxi duvernoy as is unfortunately the case with other whales but little is known of the appearance and habits of this the largest of the zephydes indeed there are but three records of its occurrence and one of these records cannot be regarded as applying without doubt to berardius the fullest account of its external appearance is given by sir julius von haast the creature reaches a length of 30 to 32 feet the specimen examined by haast being 30 feet six inches in total length its color is described by him as of a velvety black with the exception of the lower portion of the belly which had a gray stench this agrees exactly with the account of the first specimen upon the examination of whose skull duvernoy based the genus berardius the individual however was 32 feet in length it has not been noticed whether the longitudinal throat plates present in other zephyde whales also exist in the species under discussion this whale is described as bellowing like a bull it will be remembered that mesopladon bidens was stated too low like a cow but the most remarkable observation as to its economy was made by the wife of the fisherman who discovered the example referred to by haast she told her husband that each time he put the stick into the whale's mouth she could see several large teeth in front of its lower jaw which however were not observed by anybody else and the existence of which was only revealed when the skull was cleaned when in front of the lower jaw two large triangular and movable teeth on each side became exposed it thus seems that the zephydes whales when defending themselves from their enemies or attacking their prey have the power to protrude these four teeth at will this extraordinary statement is supported by an anatomical fact discovered by Dr. Hector in another example of this species he found that the teeth were embedded in a tough cartilaginous sac which adheres loosely in the socket of the jaw and is moved by a series of muscular bundles that elevate or depress it sir w flower justly remarks that these facts accord so little with anything hitherto known in mammalian anatomy that further observations on the subject are extremely desirable still there is the statement of the woman who would not be either prejudiced or informed in the matter upon which her testimony is given the whale feeds upon cattle fish a specimen 27 feet long produced about 240 gallons of oil and a fair amount of spermicity as there is but a single known species of this genus berardius the osteological characters will be described under the present heading more in detail than was thought requisite to define the genus these details are naturally taken from sir w flowers memoir upon the whale but i have myself verified most of them upon the actual skeleton in the royal college of surgeons museum a striking peculiarity of this whale is the small size of the head compared to the length of the vertebral column and the large size of the individual vertebrae a feature which is however also very noticeable in mesopladon these proportions are curiously suggestive of some of the extinct aquatic mosasorians as well as of some of the dinosaurs in this respect berardius is the opposite pole to the greenland whale where the head is so enormous as compared with the length of the vertebral column the skull of berardius is remarkably symmetrical for a toothed whale as indeed is that of mesopladon the nasals standing up erect and not sunk from the vertex of the skull the maxile are furnished with a strong oval tuberosity like those of hyperadone but not so strongly developed since in hyperadone those convexities increase in the males from youth to the old age it may be that the skeleton of berardius which sir w flower has so carefully described is of a female or young male that is not a fully adult example is shown by the large persistence of the epithesis not only in the vertebral column but elsewhere the mesothmoid plate is short comparatively speaking that is to say compared with what we find in mesopladon the ramai of the mandible are not ankylos together the vertebral column has the following formula c 7 d 10 l 12 ca 19 equals 48 of the cervical vertebrae the atlas axis and the third vertebra are united by their bodies the first two are also united by their neural arches the remaining vertebrae are quite separate sir w flower observes that apart from the fusion between these vertebrae they are much more like those of the beluga del finapterus the dorsal and lumbar vertebrae especially the lumbar contrast greatly with those of the mesopladon by reason of the shortness and slenderness of the neural spines as well as their greater inclination backwards of the ten dorsal vertebrae zygopophysis are only developed until between the eighth and the ninth there are none between the ninth and the tenth the lumbar vertebrae have their transverse process continuous with the lower transverse process of the ninth and the ninth dorsals which bear the last two ribs in a perfectly straight line from beginning to end of the series as in mesopladon the lumbar vertebrae are distinctly killed on the under surface the first of the 19th chordal vertebrae is to be distinguished from the last of the lumbar series not only by the pair of facets on the hindar lower surface of the centrum for the chevron bones but also by the absence of the keel spoken of as characteristic of the lumbars there appear to be nine chevron bones of the 10 pairs of ribs the first articulates with the transverse process of the first dorsal vertebrae and with the centrum of the last cervical as in most other zephydes cf however hyperodon there is a sudden break at the end of the series of ribs the ninth and tenth have only the capitular head which is attached to a lower transverse process springing from the centrum of the vertebrae and not exiting even in rudiment in the vertebrae in front the sternum consists of five elements not connected by bone between the first four of these are spacious foramina in the dried skeleton the edges of which are beveled and smooth so that it does not appear that ossification would have advanced further in this direction if the animal had lived to be older there appear to be six pairs of cartilaginous sternal ribs in the manus the scaphoid and the lunar are united though a groove remains to mark their original distinctness the cuneiform is partly united with the ansiform the magnum and the trapezoid are completely united so far as is known the pelvis consists of only one small bone 5.8 inches in length berardus arnuxi is one of the few whales with a really limited distribution it has only been taken so far on the north shores of new zealand mulm however has given some account of a fragmentary skull to which the name be vege has been given from bearing straights and there is also be berdi the genus zephyus has as characteristic features the skull with mesothmoid ossified the nasals conjoined form an asymmetrical eminence upon the vertex two teeth near synthesis of mandible besides smaller functionless teeth vertebral formula c7 d9 or 10 l11 ca21 equals 49 the first four cervicals fused or only three or six seven ribs two-headed sternum consists of five pieces phalanges one one two five three five four five five two parker and scott zephyus cavirostris cuvier is the only species of the genus that can be certainly recognized the following names however have been also given hyperodon semi junctus cope h dometi gray h gervasi duvernoi delfinus desmaresti risso di filipi coco zithiorincus cryptodon burmeister and apparently some others the above formidable list of synonyms is mainly after van beneden considering that the species has only been known from the year 1804 the synonyms have multiplied with perhaps greater rapidity and to a greater extent than those of almost any whale it was in the year mentioned that a skull completely petrified in appearance was picked up upon the Mediterranean coast of France and regarded properly as the type of a new form but incorrectly as a species now extinct 46 years later i.e. in 1850 a second skull was found also on the Mediterranean shore since then zephyus cavirostris has been found in many and the most distant parts of the world the size of this whale varies much according to the measurements given these naturally are from individuals of different ages van beneden remarks that its size is a little inferior to that of hyperodon it is also to be distinguished from that northern whale by the larger size of the two teeth the grooves on the throat are possibly a character by which differences may be ultimately detected between specimens of zephyus which are at present referred to the same species the bulk of accounts allow only two grooves meeting and forming a v-shaped mark up on the throat but i quote later from another account and of a new zealand species or specimen von Haas zi nove zealandae was originally founded on an aged female 26 feet in length described as being bluish black on the upper portion of the body white beneath the upper portion being marked with numerous oval spots two to three inches across like the skin of a leopard two additional specimens acquired later showed that the animal possesses a dorsal fin which was doubted at first one of these was a young female 19 feet in length the other of the same sex and 21 feet in length the color is the exact reverse of that first described being white above and black beneath the throat has a single fold on each side and the two teeth stood out half an inch beyond the gums no smaller teeth were detected in the larger specimen the teeth were worn down and could not be felt but were revealed by incisions the first animal was scored by numerous lacerations due apparently to fighting among themselves or to attacks from the males the spots are also healed wounds messers scott and parker have described and figured a young zephyas from new zealand which differs in several particulars from those just referred to but they have perhaps wisely abstained from giving it a name the animal a young female was 16 feet long all but an inch purple black on the back brown on the side of the head and white beneath to as far back as the genital orifice whence it was brown the throat is grooved by three grooves on each side the middle of the cordal fin is convex as in hyperadone and mesopladone see figure 31 it will be noted that the color and grooves on the throat differ from those of zi nove zealandier but there are no salient differences in the osteology end of section 19 recording by Mike Botez section 20 of the book of wales this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Mike Botez the book of wales by Frank Evers Bedard chapter 10 part 1 the dolphins family delfinidae the family delfinidae may be thus defined of small to moderate size teeth as a rule numerous and in both jaws anterior ribs 5 to 8 two-headed posterior with tuberculum only sternal ribs ossified palatines meeting for a greater or less extent in the middle line this family of wales comprises as the name denotes those cetacea which are commonly known as dolphins and purposes there are no giants among the delfinidae save only orca the killer whale which may grow to a length of over 20 feet but nothing of a colossal size is attained to by any number of the family delfinidae the skull of all these whales is characterized by the form of the lacrimal bone which is not distinct from the muller and consists of a thicker piece which ends abruptly in a thin bar of bone articulating behind with a square muscle this single bone may contain the elements of the two distinct ossifications of other cetacea the skull is asymmetrical as in other odontocetes but there is no such highly raised crest behind the nears as in the ziphides or sperm whales the synthesis of the mandibles is of limited extent never exceeding one third of the ramus the most salient difference perhaps with the delfinidae display from most other whales is the presence of numerous functional teeth in both jaws it is only the primitive platanistidae that show agreement with them in this in beluga the teeth show a commencing reduction and this culminates in the narwhal where the well-known tusk only sometimes double is left the vertebral column is often composed of very numerous vertebrae as many as 90 or so having been recorded on the other hand it is by no means infrequently short so that no family definition can be arrived at from a statement of these numbers but all dolphins agree in the mode of articulation of the ribs at first they are double headed afterwards the tuberculum only is left furthermore the sternal ribs are ossified the delfinidae enumerated in dr. gray's catalogs amount to over 100 in number and even so careful as a worker as mr. true enumerates and defines no less than 50 many of these names will however ultimately have to be weeded out from the list which they encumber everyone nowadays will agree with sir william flower when he observes that it is necessary to abandon the old assumption upon which so many new species were founded which limited the area of each species to a small and circumscribed portion of the ocean and placed imaginary barriers to its distribution where none really existed it is this perversity which has confounded the whole history of wales and especially of that family which is now under consideration like other animals too the dolphins show some alterations in the structure as they pass from immaturity to old age and these alterations have to be taken very careful account of as they relate to features which have been made use of for specific and even generic definition by dr. gray and others a number of these anatomical points are brought together by sir w flower in his essay upon the generic subdivisions of the dolphins in the first place the length and width of the big altars with advancing years and it becomes longer and wider in proportion to the rest of the skull in perfectly adult animals another character which is commonly made use of in the discrimination of species is the number and size of the teeth it is in the first place hard to count accurately the teeth in a given skull the smaller ones at the ends of the series are sometimes lost or concealed in the gum they become larger too with growth and more widely separated owing to the growth of the beak already referred to as both the numbers and size of the teeth are used and in many cases apparently quite properly used in the discrimination of species it is desirable to be cautious in the third place sexual differences exist which if wrongly interpreted might lead to the placing of the two sexes in different species when as has been more than once the case species is founded upon a single individual even upon a single skull or part of a skull fourthly the distribution and depths of the colors of these citations are apt to show differences not merely of age but sheer variations which do not always depend upon differing age the beluga for example gets paler with age the arrangement of the bars of colors upon the common dolphin delphinus delfis seems to differ to a considerable extent these observations obviously apply to other whales besides delfinidae to which they are specifically applied here immaturity especially has been made the basis of specific and even generic distinction but they are particularly applied to the dolphins by sir w flower since the classification and limits of the species in that group are more difficult owing to their larger numbers in spite however of the numerous points in which variations of sex or age may occur and tend to obscure the possibility of accurately dividing up the family a considerable number of definite types can be recognized which may fairly be termed generic to go further than this is not so easy the most recent arrangement of the dolphins is that of mr true who attempts to distinguish the species into which the genre allowed by sir w flower can be divided the admitted genre of dolphins are some 19 this will be allowed here seeing that there are so many types to which generic rank should perhaps be allowed it becomes a matter of importance to inquire how far they can be grouped together whether in fact any practical subdivision of the family into larger divisions than genre can be arrived at several authors are in favor of separating the beluga and the narwhal of the north into such a subfamily there is no doubt that in more than one character these two northern forms approach each other to differ from the remaining forms the cervical vertebrae are never fused even imperfectly adult animals without epithesis to the vertebrae in other dolphins more or fewer are fused the pterygoid bones are somewhat rudimentary not having the involuted cavity below which is the character of other dolphins these two bones more over are not merely widely separated which is found in other dolphins but are bent towards each other posteriorly and also articulate outwards with the squamosals as mr true has pointed out this last character is found in platanista and it will be born in mind that the last mentioned family is characterized among other facts by the freedom of the cervical vertebrae dolphin up terrace further agrees with platanista in having a distinct neck the reduction of the teeth culminating in monodon is however met with in grampus and globicephalus finally a larger number of ribs eight than in any others seven at most have both capitulum and tuberculum in the following account of the dolphins i shall for the most part admit mr truce species and of course species subsequently described where there are salient characters color exact number of teeth phalanges and vertebrae are so liable to variation and to wrong enumeration owing to defective skeletons that great care will have to be exercised we will commence with a genus dolphin up terrace which has eight to ten teeth of moderate size occupying anterior part of jaws only vertebrae c7 d11 l9 ca 23 equals 50 all cervicals are free eight first ribs two-headed four reach the sternum teregoids widely apart converging towards extremity but not meeting phalanges one one two six seven three four to five four three to four five three to four in embryo three nine seven six six no dorsal fin no hairs on the face both sir w flower and mr true concur in allowing but one species of white whale which will therefore have the following synonymy dolphin up terrace leukas palace dolphin up terrace beluga lace pad dolphinus albicans fable issues beluga cathodon gray cathodon sibaldi flaming beluga borealis lesson dolphinus canadensis de maré d kingi gray b rinodon cope b de clevis cope b augustata cope b concreta cope the white whale is entirely northern in range the alleged species d kingi was asserted to come from the australian shores but the locality requires confirmation it is so exclusively arctic in range that there are but a few certain records of the occurrence species on the shores of england though several specimens have been recorded from scotland and the species occurs off the eastern coast of north america it reaches a length of 16 to 20 feet this whale is remarkable for its white color its name beluga from the russian signifies white which is however only characteristic of the full grown animals the young is blackish the older whale is mottled and finally a yellowish hue is arrived at which is gradually blanched to pure white though the whale is marine it will ascend rivers mainly it is said in pursuit of salmon it has been said to ascend the ucon river for a distance of 700 miles the name dolphin upterus applied to this whale signifies the peculiarity of the absence of the dorsal fin in which it resembles its undoubted ally the narwhal and the more distance neomeris it is a singular fact that these whales unlike many cetacea have a distinct voice and their vocal capabilities have earned for them the name of sea cannery the beluga lives in companies they feed up on fish cephalopods and crustacea these they pursue at great depths in the ocean it is said that the sand which is sometimes found in the stomach is used as ballast to enable the creature to remain below water with greater facility but as already mentioned in the case of the balenoptera rostrata it seems much more likely that the sand is engulfed accidentally along with their prey the various aliases of the one polar white whale are partly due to the occasional fusion of the cervical vertebrae the presence of an additional rib and a few other points which are really within the limits of individual variation the beluga has a very distinct neck a rarity among whales but a character of platonista and inia to which genre indeed the freedom from each other of the cervical vertebrae give it an additional resemblance a curious error but made in good faith was perpetrated in 1748 with regard to the systematic position of this white fish anderson described a specimen which had lost the teeth of the upper jaw and was in consequence only dented below as a white cashalot lasseped added apparently solely for the sake of a better field page it seems a belated procedure to attack lasseped but he has acquired so big a reputation as an historian of the cetacea that it is perhaps permissible to quote m fishers remark that the scientific element is not conspicuous in his book the narwhal genus monodon is extremely very unlike the last genus though they possess many structural points in common it has but one tooth rarely two in maxilla which has the form of a long task in female this is rudimentary vertebrae c7 d11 l6 ca 26 equals 50 eight ribs two-headed four rich to sternum teregoids as in delphinopterus no dorsal fin no hairs phalanges one two two six three five four three five three embryo two nine seven five four this genus is obviously characterized by the singular spirally twisted task of the male which is simply an abnormally enlarged maxillary tooth occasionally two teeth are fully developed one in each jaw there is a skeleton in the british museum which shows this popularity that skeleton has also a small 12th rib in addition to the normal 11 of these ribs the first eight are double-headed the same is the case in the beluga and as also in the last mentioned genus four external ribs exist though the narwhal has no dorsal fin there is a raised ridge along the back an inch in height there is but one species monodon monoceros lineus m microcephalus demare m andorsanianus id narwhalus vulgaris laceped tachyneces megacephalus drux are some of the synonyms which really all refer to the one species the narwhal or sea unicorn mighty monoceros with immeasured tails is a whale familiar to everybody at least by name and appearance as depicted in pictures the creature grows to a length of about 15 feet such an individual would have a horn of some seven feet but the length as with other whales has been grossly exaggerated 60 feet the color is darker above paler below both tents speckled in a leper dine fashion but old animals seem to lose this character and to become quite white it is a purely arctic animal and mr lydica records only three examples thrown up on our shorts another however has been since recorded by mr christy the task of the narwhal van beneden tells us was at first and after all naturally thought to belong to a terrestrial creature it is from this idea that the notion of the unicorn with the form of a horse has doubtless sprung so lately as 1655 however warmius announced the real nature of this apparent freak of nature the use of the horn or task to its processor has been much discussed as it is a sexual character the most obvious use would seem to be in the battles of the males with the toothless females scores be observed that shows of these animals often consisted entirely of males these animals play to their horns crossing them with each other as in fencing this is of course comparable to the use of other weapons in play by other animals such as the teeth of young dogs the claws of the cat et cetera et cetera another suggestion is that the long and strong weapon is useful for the purpose of breaking the thick ice of the polar regions so that the whale can rise and breathe a third suggestion is also due to scores be he captured and dissected a narwhal which had in his stomach beside beaks and cuttlefish so common a food of whales a large skate now an active skate which moreover had a diameter greater than that of the whale's mouth could hardly thought scores be have been caught alive by its devourer he suggests indeed that with this task the skate was first pierced and killed and then swallowed an elaboration of this story is to be found in writings earlier than the two books of scores be last a pad quoting from others credits the narwhal with a more ingenious use of the task the animal threads its prey up on the task and gradually works it down like a conjurer with a ball upon a string until the fish can be seized with its lips and swallowed these three views are presented for the consideration of the reader as to uses with which their possessor has no concern the task was employed in Europe in the past and in China today as a drug at Rosenborg is a throne entirely made of those tasks and captain scores be Mr. R. Brown tells us had a bed made from the same material the genus fosena true purposes have the teeth 16 to 26 in number their crowns compressed loped pterogoids slightly developed and far apart pre maxillae with bosses in front of nears vertebrae 64 to 98 in number phalanges one two to three two seven to ten three six to eight four three to five five one to three dorsal fin with a row of tubercles along its posterior margin of well established species there would seem to be three which are the following fosena communis lesson the common purpose maybe thus distinguished from other members of the genus fosena length five and a half feet no beak dorsal fin triangular anterior margin straight pectoral fins o weight teeth 26 vertebrae c 7 d 12 13 14 l 14 15 ca 30 to 33 equals 64 to 68 first six cervicals fused young with two to four hairs the common purpose is a northern form being found in both Atlantic and Pacific it's reaches a length of five to six feet and is generally blackish but whiter on the belly the name of this dolphin has been variously given as pork pies pork pies porpoise porpoise and porpoise the meaning of the word being especially plain from the first instance it is of course big fish a suggestion of the angulate affinities of whales which has been commanded by naturalists it is a gregarious whale and often ascends rivers it has been met with in the same but paris for example it is the commonest species of our seas the porpoise was once esteemed at delicacy in this country as are other cetaceans in other lands at the present day it formed a royal dish even so recently as the times of henry the eighth the sauce recommended by dr. kaius for this fish was made of crumbs of fine bread vinegar and sugar considered to be a fish it was allowed to be eaten on fast days the porpoise like the stormy petrol has had the reputation of presaging foul weather wilseford i quote from bacon in nature's secrets remarks porpoises or seahawks when observed to sport and chase one another about ships expect then some stormy weather to the same effect writes raven scruffed in cantibary guests or a bargain broke my heart begins to leap and play like a porpoise before a storm the french word marsois applied to the porpoise is said to be derived from a corruption of the german merschwein but scaliger's derivation from marinum swim seems to be more likely fosena tuberculifera was founded by dr. gray upon an example which was exhibited for a short time in the zoological society's garden in this individual the doctor noticed the spiny margin to the fin which has frequently escaped notice in other porpoises and hence thought that there were two species one with and one without these spines it is held by mr true that p brachisium p vomerina and p lineata all named by the late professor cope are at most varieties of the common purpose but fosena spinnipiness of burmeister is distinct it has a length of five feet and four inches slight beak dorsal fin narrow low with concave anterior margin pectoral fins falcate and the body reached above and below teeth 16 this porpoise seems to be quite distinct the specimen upon which the description of burmeister was based was captured near the mouth of the Rio de la Plata it is entirely black but the most remarkable character which distinguishes it from p communis and at the same time allies it to the next species is the existence of a long low ridge on both sides of the body near to the tail this seems to be a survival of the low dorsal ridge of the embryo c page 14 and the existence of the two ridges give some color to older assertions that whales may possess two dorsal fins and an anal fin like the fish the tubercles on the fin as well as the peculiar shape of the latter distinguish the species they are more numerous and in more rows on the back as well as on the fin itself for Senna dally true is thus defined length six feet no beak dorsal fin high and falcate pectorals oval body reached above and below at end teeth 23 to 27 vertebrae c 7 d 14 15 l 27 ca 49 equals 97 or 98 the most salient difference of this from p communis is the extraordinarily long vertebral column formed mainly by the large development of the lambar region all the cervicals are united it is a pacific species end of section 20 recording by mike botez