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DOLPHIN

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Originally appearing in Volume V08, Page 395 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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DOLPHIN , a name properly belonging to the See also:

common cetacean mammal known as See also:Delphinus delphis, but also applied to a number of more or less nearly allied See also:species. The dolphins, See also:bottle-noses, or, as they are more commonly called, " porpoises," are found in abundance in all seas, while some species are inhabitants of large See also:rivers, as the See also:Amazon. They are among the The Common Dolphin (See also:Delphinia delphis). smaller members of the cetacean See also:order, none exceeding 10 ft. in length. .Their See also:food is chiefly See also:fish, for the See also:capture of which their See also:long narrow beaks, armed with numerous See also:sharp-pointed See also:teeth, are well adapted, but some also devour crustaceans and molluscs. They are mostly gregarious, and the agility and See also:grace of their movements in the See also:water are themes of admiration to the spectators when a " school of porpoises " is playing See also:round the bows of a See also:vessel at See also:sea. The type of the See also:group is the common dolphin (D. delphis) of the Mediterranean and See also:Atlantic, which usually See also:measures 6 to 8 ft. in length, and is thickest near the centre, where the back fin rises to a height of 9 or ro in., and whence the See also:body tapers towards both extremities. The forehead descends abruptly to the See also:base of the slightly flattened See also:beak, which is about fi in. long, and is separated from the forehead by a transverse depression. . The mouth is armed with sharp, slightly curved teeth, of See also:uniform See also:size, varying in number from See also:forty to fifty on each See also:side of both jaws. The See also:aperture of the See also:ear is exceedingly See also:minute; the eyes are of moderate size and the See also:blow-hole is See also:crescent-shaped. The See also:colour of the upper See also:surface is See also:black, becoming lighter on the flanks, and perfectly See also:white below. Dolphins are gregarious, and large herds often follow See also:ships.

They exhibit remarkable agility, individuals having been known to leap to such a height out of the water as to fall upon the See also:

deck. Their gambols and apparent.relish for human society have attracted the See also:attention of mariners in all ages, and have probably given rise to the many fabulous stories told of dolphins. Their See also:appearance at sea was regarded as a See also:good See also:omen, for although it presaged a See also:tempest, yet it enabled the sailors to See also:steer for a See also:place of safety. The dolphin is exceedingly voracious, feeding on fish, cuttlefishes and crustaceans. On the See also:south See also:coast of See also:England it lives chiefly on See also:pilchard and See also:mackerel, and when in pursuit of these is often taken in the nets. The See also:female brings forth a single See also:young one, which she nurses most carefully. Her See also:milk is abundant and See also:rich, and during the operation of suckling, the See also:mother floats in a slightly sidelong position, so as to allow of the necessary respiration in herself and her young. The dolphin was formerly supposed to be a fish, and allowed to be eaten by See also:Roman Catholics when the use of flesh was prohibited, and it seems to have been esteemed as a delicacy by the See also:French. Among the seafaring See also:population of See also:Britain the name " dolphin " is most usually given to the beautifully coloured fish Coryphaena hippuris —the dorado of the Portuguese, and it is to the latter the poet is alluding when he speaks of " the dying dolphin's changing hues." Many other allied genera, such as Prodelphinus, See also:Steno, Lagenorhynchus, &c., are also included in the See also:family Delphinidae, some of which live wholly in rivers. Beside these there is another group of largely See also:freshwater species, constituting the family Platanistidae, and typified by the susu (Platanista gangetica), extensively distributed throughout nearly the whole of the See also:river-systems of the See also:Ganges, See also:Brahmaputra and See also:Indus, ascending as high as there is water enough to swim in, but never passing out to sea. It is about 8 ft. long, See also:blind and feeds on small fish and crustaceans for which it gropes with its long snout in the muddy See also:waters at the bottom. Inia geoffroyensis, the single species of its genus, frequents the Amazon, and reaches an extreme length of 8 ft.

It is wholly See also:

pink or flesh-coloured, or entirely black, or black above and pink beneath. A third is the La See also:Plata dolphin, Stenodelplzis blainvillei, a species about 5 ft. in length. Its colour is palish See also:brown, which harmonizes with the brown-coloured water of the See also:estuary of the Rio de la Plata.

End of Article: DOLPHIN

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