Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-20
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The speed at which the monstrous animals
shot through the water prevented the Ameri-
cans from witnessing the issue of the fight.
The Antarctic dophins chiefly prey .upon
genus OF fish discovered at Kerguelen's Land,
and which are of an elongated eellike shape
These tish, from their peculiar form, are often
able to conceal themselves from the perHec,i-
tions of their enemies in the small cracks and
cavities OF the packice, and were frequently
noticed by Sir James Ross, when driven from
shelter by the ship, as it struck and passed
over their protecting pieces of ice.
From the form Of its beak, the dolphin re-
c,eives from the French the names Of bec
doie Cgoose-beak) and ole de mer (goose Of the
designated by the ancient Greeks. It was
their sacred fish; was invested with many fab
ulous attributes. and was the subject. of many
NEUROLOGICAL legends.
The, classical dolphin of the ancients (the
coryphene, before alluded to-, has been seen
near the Cape Of Good Hope, and is said to
wander far to the SOUTH being proverbal for
his arrow-iike rapdity, and can easily ira
verse a couple Of hundred miles in single
day.
Captain Basil Hall lilens its velocity to that
Of cannon ball. The coryphenes are remark
able for the beauty and metallic brilliancy
OF their colors, the changes of which, as they
lie dying on the shore, or on the deck Of
vessel. have acquired peculiar poetic celeb
rity.
A species of dolphin is frequently seen in the
Strait OF Magellan and about Cape Horn,
whose turned-up mouth corners give his coun-
tenance peculiarly benevolent and friendly
expression, belied by his ravenous propensi
ties; and another, who, like the beeluga of
the North, has no dorsal fin, and, by the
liveiiness of his movements, emulates the clas
sical dolphin of the Mediterranean
The white. dolphin, SO valuable to the Green
landers, makes its appearance short time
after the breaking up of the ice and again
aIltrImn In lie fha
sea. Sometimes large herds of the white dol
phins are cut off from the sea by the closing
in of the ice in the neghborhood of the land,
so that several hundred may be killed in the
course Of a few days.
Ihe black dolphin, common in the Arctic
Seas, grows to the length of twenty four feet,
and Is about ten feet in circumference. The
skin, like that of the dolphin tribe in general,
Is smooth, resembling oiled silk; the color.
blush back on the back, whitsh on the
grown dolphin OF this species generally has
twenty-four teeth in each jaw, and when the
mouth is shut, the teeth lock between one an
other, like the teeth of trap.
The common dolphin is found in the Medi-
terrauean and in the northern Atlantic Ocean.
individuals of ten feet in length have been
seem The tail is crescent-shaped, and about
n foot in breadth; the beak is about six
inches long; the blow-hole is crescentshaped,
with the horn directed backward. The fe-
ihoAC OtAhRo iOitu SAnSiG young Oue dI d
time. which she suckles and nurses with great
care.
The figure of the dolphin appears on many
ancient coins and medals; it is said to have
been borne on the shield of Ulysses. 1t early
appeared on the shield of some of the princes
of France. and gave it's name to one Of the
fairest of the French provinces, from which
the heirapparent of the French throne came
to be styled the Dauphin.
A scene at sea, in which a shoa of dol
phins are observed, and whale making his
appearance near by, has been most beauti-
fully described by the poet Montgomery.