Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Grampus

GRAMPUS (Orca gladiator, Lacep.), a cetacean belong ing to the Delphinidce or dolphin family, and characterized by its rounded head without distinct beak, its high dorsal fin, and its large conical permanent teeth. Its upper part is of a nearly uniform glossy black colour, and the under part white, with a strip of the same colour over each eye. The name " grampus " is derived from the French grand poisson, through the Norman ffrapois. It is also known as the " killer," in allusion to its ferocity in attacking its prey, which consists largely of seals, porpoises, and the smaller species of dolphins. Its fierceness is only equalled by its voracity, which is such that in a specimen measuring 21 feet in length, dissected by Professor Eschricht, the remains of fourteen seals and thirteen porpoises were found, while the animal appeared to have been choked in the endeavour to swallow another seal, the skin of which was found en- tangled in its teeth. They also pursue and commit great havoc among the bulky but gentle belugas or white whales, which sometimes throw themselves ashore in order to escape from their remorseless persecutors. The grampus is an inhabitant of northern seas, occurring on the shores of Greenland, and having been caught, although rarely, as far south as the Mediterranean. It is not common, although there are numerous instances of its capture, on the British coasts. The latest of these occurred in March 1876, about a mile to the west of Granton, on the Firth of Forth. The creature on being dragged ashore, while still alive, was said by the onlookers to have given forth shrill piercing cries somewhat resembling in their sharpness a woman s voice. The specimen was an adult male, and measured 21 feet 10 inches along the curve of the back, with a girth of 13 feet. It had 24 teeth in each jaw, the front tooth on each side of the lower jaw being exceedingly small and almost hidden by the overlapping of the gum, while the two immediately succeeding these on each side were worn down almost to the level of the gum. A striking feature in the grampus is the high dorsal fin, which in the specimen mentioned measured within 2 inches of 4 feet in height.