Natural History: Mammalia/Delphinidæ
Family I. Delphinidæ.
(Dolphins.)
The genera which are usually placed in this Family, differ from each other in so many particulars, that their characters are rather negative than positive. They agree in having the head of moderate size, as compared with other Mammalia: the muzzle usually projects more or less, in the form of a slender beak, the jaws are for the most part both furnished with teeth, very numerous, and conical in form; but are devoid of baleen or whalebone. The blow-hole is single, of a semi-lunar form. The body is lengthened, gracefully tapered, with a regular outline. Most of the species have a dorsal fin.
The genera of this Family are the most carnivorous, and, though of small or moderate size, the most cruel of the Order. They are scattered in all seas, and frequently ascend rivers. One genus (Inia) is even known to inhabit the mountain lakes of Peru, the fountains of the Amazon, a thousand miles from the sea.
Genus Delpuinus. (Linn.)
The genus before us is furnished with teeth far exceeding in number those of any other of the Mammalia. The average number, (for it is not uniform even in a given species) is about ninety in each jaw. They cannot be arranged in a formula, as they are all of the same character, and can neither be called incisors, canines, nor molars; they are slender, conical, and pointed, those of one jaw fitting into the interspaces of the other; and hence are adapted for seizing only. The jaws which are thus armed, project in the form of a slender beak, which is separated from the forehead by a groove: the forehead rises abruptly, and is full and rounded. There is a fin on the back.
The Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis, Linn.) is familiar to fishermen and mariners, being found abundantly around the British shores, and all over the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Its beautiful and graceful form, the extraordinary fleetness with which it darts through the waters, its agile gambols and leaps, and its social habits, render it attractive to every voyager. They are fond of accompanying a ship, even for many miles. We have often been amused with them. No sooner do we discern a "shoal" or "school" of Dolphins frolicking, perhaps a mile or two distant, than we see them having caught sight of the ship, come trooping down with the velocity of
DOLPHIN.
the wind, impelled by curiosity to discover what being of monstrous bulk thus invades their domain. Arrived, they displayed their agility in a thousand graceful motions, now leaping with curved bodies many feet into the air, then darting through a wave with incredible velocity, leaving a slender wake of whitening foam under the water; now the thin dorsal fin only is exposed, cutting the surface like a knife; then the broad and muscular tail is suddenly elevated as the animal plunges perpendicularly down into the depth, or rises beneath the keel to explore the opposite side. So smooth are their bodies, that their gambols are performed with surprisingly little disturbance of the water, and even when descending from their agile somersets, they make scarcely any splashing. It was this playfulness and sociality, doubtless, that made the Dolphin so great a favourite with the ancients; the poets abounding with beautiful fables of its docility and love of man.
The Dolphin produces but a single young one at a time, which she suckles with care and tenderness. The milk is abundant, and of a creamy richness. Its flesh was formerly considered so great a delicacy as to be frequently served at civic feasts. We have tasted it repeatedly, and found it, though dark, tender and not disagreeable.