or DOLPHIN; a genus of fishes belonging to the order of Cete. There are three species.

1. The delphis, or dolphin. Historians and philosophers seem to have contended who should invent most fables concerning this fish. It was consecrated to the gods, was celebrated in the earliest time for its fondness of the human race, was honoured with the title of the sacred fish, and distinguished by those of boy-loving and philanthropist. It gave rise to a long train of inventions, proofs of the credulity and ignorance of the times. Aristotle steers the clearest of all the ancients from these fables, and gives in general a faithful history of this animal; but the elder Pliny, Aelian, and others, seem to preserve no bounds in their belief of the tales related of this fish's attachment to mankind. Scarce an accident could happen at sea, but the dolphin offered himself to convey to shore the unfortunate. Arion the musician, when flung into the ocean by the pirates, is received and saved by this benevolent fish.

Jude (sile magis) tergo Delphina recurvo, Se memorem ovem fugitique novo. Ille felinus eitharomaque teutae, praelongae vehiculae. Cantat, et aquaeas carminis melius aquas. OVID. Fasti, lib. ii. 113.

But (past belief) a dolphin's arched back Preferred Arion from his destined wreck; Secure he sits, and with harmonious strains Requites his bearer for his friendly pains.

We are at a loss to account for the origin of these fables, since it does not appear that the dolphin shows a greater attachment to mankind, than the rest of the cetaceous tribe. We know that at present the appearance of this fish, and the porpoise, are far from being esteemed favourable omens by the seamen; for their boundings, springs, and frolics, in the water, are held to be sure figs of an approaching gale.

It is from their leaps out of that element, that they assume a temporary form that is not natural to them; but which the old painters and sculptors have almost always given them. A dolphin is scarce ever exhibited by the ancients in a straight shape, but almost always incurved: such are those on the coin of Alexander the Great, which is preferred by Belon, as well as on several other pieces of antiquity. The poets describe them much in the same manner, and it is not improbable but that the one had borrowed from the other:

Tumidumque, pando transfixi dorsi mare Typhenus sumi piscis exsultat fretis, Agitator gyros. S. S. C. Trag. Agam. 450.

Upon the swelling waves the dolphins show Their bending backs; then, swiftly darting, go, And in a thousand wreaths their bodies throw.

The natural shape of the dolphin is almost straight, the back being very slightly incurved, and the body slender; the nose is long, narrow, and pointed, not much unlike the beak of some birds, for which reason the French call it P oye de mer. It has in all 40 teeth; 21 in the upper jaw, and 19 in the lower; a little above an inch long, conic at their upper end, sharp-pointed, bending a little in. They are placed at small distances from each other; so that when the mouth is shut, the teeth of both jaws lock into one another; or dolphin.

The spout-hole is placed in the middle of the head; the tail is semilunar; the skin is smooth, the colour of the back and sides dusky, the belly whitish; it swims with great swiftness; and its prey is fish. It was formerly reckoned a great delicacy: Dr Caius says, that one which was taken in his time, was thought a present worthy the duke of Norfolk, who distributed part of it among his friends. It was roasted and dressed with porpoise sauce, made of crumbs of fine wheat bread, mixed with vinegar and sugar.

This species of dolphin must not be confounded with that to which seamen give the name; the latter being quite another kind of fish, the coryphaena hippurus of Linnæus, and the dorado of the Portuguese.

2. The phocaena, or porpoise. This species is found in vast multitudes in all parts of the British seas; but in greatest numbers at the time when fish of passage appear, such as mackerel, herrings, and salmon, which they pursue up the bays with the same eagerness as a dog does a hare. In some places they almost darken the sea as they rise above water to take breath: but porpoises not only seek for prey near the surface, but often descend to the bottom in search of sand-eels, and sea-worms, which they root out of the sand with their noses in the same manner as hogs do in the fields for their food.

Their bodies are very thick towards the head, but grow slender towards the tail, forming the figure of a cone. The nose projects a little, is much shorter than that of the dolphin, and is furnished with very strong muscles, which enables it the readier to turn up the sand. In each jaw are 48 teeth, small, sharp-pointed, and a little moveable: like those of the dolphin, they are so placed as that the teeth of one jaw lock into those of the other when closed. The eyes are small; the spout-hole is on the top of the head; the tail semilunar. The colour of the porpoise is generally black, and the belly whitish; but they sometimes vary: in the river St Laurence there is a white kind; and Dr Borlase, in his voyage to the Scilly isles, observed a small species of cetaceous fish, which he calls thornbacks, from their broad and sharp fin on the back; some of these were brown, some quite white, others spotted: but whether they were only a variety of this fish, or whether they were small grampus, which are also spotted, we cannot determine.

The porpoise is remarkable for the vast quantity of the fat or lard that surrounds the body, which yields a great quantity of excellent oil: from this lard, or from their rooting like swine, they are called in many places sea-hogs; the Germans call them meerschwein; the Swedes marsvin; and the English porpoise, from the Italian porco pesce.

It would be curious to trace the revolutions of fashion in the article of eatables; what epicure first rejected the sea-gull and heron, and what delicate stomach first nauseated the greatly flesh of the porpoise. This latter was once a royal dish, even so late as the reign of Henry VIII., and from its magnitude must have held a very respectable station at the table; for in a household book of that prince, extracts of which are published in the third volume of the Archaeologia, it is ordered, that if a porpoise should be too big for a horse-load, load, allowance should be made to the purveyor. This fish continued in vogue even in the reign of Elizabeth: for Doctor Caius, on mentioning a dolphin (that was taken at Shoreham, and brought to Thomas duke of Norfolk, who divided, and sent it as a present to his friends) says, that it eat beef with porpess sauce, which was made of vinegar, crumbs of fine bread, and sugar.

3. The orca, or grampus, is found from the length of 15 feet to that of 25. It is remarkably thick in proportion to its length, one of 18 feet being in the thickest place 10 feet diameter. With reason then did Pliny call this "an immense heap of flesh armed with dreadful teeth." It is extremely voracious; and will not even spare the porpess, a congenerous fish. It is said to be a great enemy to the whale, and that it will fall on it like a dog on a bull, till the animal roars with pain. The nose is flat, and turns up at the end. There are 30 teeth in each jaw; those before are blunt, round, and slender; the farthermost sharp and thick; between each is a space adapted to receive the teeth of the opposite jaw when the mouth is closed. The spout-hole is in the top of the neck. The colour of the back is black, but on each shoulder is a large white spot; the sides marbled with black and white; the belly of a snowy whiteness.

These fishes sometimes appear on our coasts; but are found in much greater numbers off the North Cape in Norway, whence they are called the North-Capers. These and all other whales are observed to swim against the wind; and to be much disturbed, and tumble about with unusual violence, at the approach of a storm.

astronomy, a constellation of the northern hemisphere. See Astronomy, n° 266.