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NARWHAL

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Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 243 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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NARWHAL , the Scandinavian name of a cetacean (Monodon monoceros), characterized by the presence in the male of a See also:

long See also:horn-like tusk. In the adult of both sexes there are only two See also:teeth, both in the upper See also:jaw, which See also:lie horizontally See also:side by side, and in the See also:female remain throughout See also:life concealed in cavities of the See also:bone. In the male the right tooth usually remains similarly concealed, but the See also:left is immensely See also:developed, attaining a length equal to more than See also:half that of the entire See also:animal. In a narwhal 12 ft. long, from snout to end of tail, the exserted portion of the tusk may measure 6 or 7 and occasionally 8 ft. in length. It projects horizontally forwards from the See also:head in the See also:form of a cylindrical or slightly tapering, pointed tusk, composed of See also:ivory, with a central cavity reaching almost to the See also:apex, without See also:enamel, and with the See also:surface marked by See also:spiral grooves and ridges, See also:running in a sinistral direction. Occasionally both left and right tusks are developed, in which See also:case the direction of the grooves is the same in both. No instance has ever been met with of the See also:complete development of the right tusk associated with a rudimentary See also:condition of the left. In See also:young animals several small additional teeth are See also:present, but these usually disappear soon after See also:birth. The head is rather See also:short and rounded; the fore limbs or paddles are small and broad compared with those of most dolphins; and (as in the See also:beluga) a dorsal fin, found in nearly all other members of the See also:group, is wanting. The See also:general See also:colour of the surface is dark See also:grey above and See also:white below, variously marbled and spotted with shades of grey. The narwhal is an See also:Arctic See also:whale, frequenting the icy circumpolar seas, and rarely seen See also:south of 65° N. See also:lat. Four instances have, however, been recorded of its occurrence on the See also:British coasts, one on the See also:coast of See also:Norfolk in 1588, one in the See also:Firth of Forth in 1648, one near See also:Boston in See also:Lincolnshire in 1800, while a See also:fourth entangled itself among rocks in the See also:Sound of Weesdale, See also:Shetland, in See also:September 18o8.

Like most cetaceans it is gregarious and usually met with in " See also:

schools " or herds of fifteen or twenty individuals. Its See also:food appears to be cuttlefishes, small fishes and crustaceans. The purpose served by the tusk—or " horn "—is not known; and little is known of the habits of narwhals. See also:Scoresby describes them as " extremely playful, frequently elevating their horns and See also:crossing them with each other as in See also:fencing." They have never been known to See also:charge and See also:pierce the bottom of See also:ships with their weapons, as the See also:swordfish does. The name " See also:sea-See also:unicorn " is sometimes applied to the narwhal. The ivory of which the tusk is composed is of very See also:good quality, but owing to the central cavity, only fitted for the manufacture of See also:objects of small See also:size. The entire tusks are sometimes used for decorative purposes, and are of considerable, though fluctuating, value. (See See also:CETACEA.) (W. H.

End of Article: NARWHAL

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NASCIMENTO, FRANCISCO MANOEL DE (1734-1819)

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