ture, and the manner of burning it. No lime is more highly prized by masons than that made of the close, compact dolomite called the "hard jointer" of Smithfield, R. I. It is perfectly white, is very strong, taking a great deal of sand, and sets quickly. But the same kind of rock of other localities, if burned in the common anthracite kiln, finds little favor with masons from its not slacking uniformly. Lumps of it remain without slacking until after it has been laid upon the walls, where they form blotches, which by the masons is called "pitting out." This is in great measure obviated by a proper method of burning, and particularly by the use of wood or a blazing coal instead of anthracite. Lime of very superior quality has thus been made of the white crystalline dolomite found on the Hudson at Hastings and Sing Sing. Its strength was such as to take about more sand than other limes in use of the best qualities. For agricultural purposes magnesian lime is not in good repute, though the fact of its inferiority does not appear to be well established. As a building stone, dolomite ranks among the best, possessing in a high degree the properties of durability and ease of working. It is obtained in large blocks of sound and uniform texture, with good grain for splitting, and unmixed with foreign matters. But different layers in the same quarry vary greatly in quality, so that care is required in selecting them. The softness of the stone admits of its being easily sawn into ashlar and carved into ornamental mouldings. It forms a considerable part of the white marble used in the construction of the capitol at Washington. The custom house in New York city is built of this stone from the Tuckahoe quarries on the Harlem railroad, and the new custom house at Charleston, S. C., is built of the same from the quarries at Hastings on the Hudson. In England, dolomite has proved so durable and excellent a stone, that a variety of it found at Bolsover moor was select ed by the commissioners appointed by the British parliament for investigating the qualities of the various building stones of the kingdom, and choosing from them the best for the new houses of parliament. The choir of Southwell church, which was built of this variety of stone in the 12th century, was found by the commissioners to be in so perfect a state that "the mouldings and carved enrichments were as sharp as when first executed." After describing other examples illustrating the durability of this rock, the commissioners say: "We may here remark, that as far as our observations extend, in proportion as the stone employed in magnesian limestone buildings is crystalline, so does it appear to have resisted the decomposing effects of the atmosphere; a conclusion in accordance with the opinion of Professor Daniell, who has stated that, from the results of experiments, he is of opinion that 'the nearer the magnesian limestones approach to equivalent proportions of carbonate of lime and carbonate of magnesia, the more crystalline and better they are in

DOLPHIN (delphinus, Cuv.), a cetacean mammal, carnivorous in its habits, and found in most of the seas of the world. The dolphins, as generally restricted, have a convex forehead, and a beak or snout, armed with teeth, separated from the forehead by a well-marked furrow; they do not acquire the dimensions of the whales, being rarely more than 9 feet long. The body is fusiform in shape, without evident neck, and terminated by the horizontal tail common to all cetaceans; the head is not disproportionately large, and both jaws are toothed; there are 2 pectoral fins, and toward the middle of the back there is a fold of the skin which may be called a dorsal fin; the eyes are small, with bare lids; the external opening of the ear is small; the tongue is thick, soft, and but slightly movable; the skin is naked and soft, covered only by a thick mucosity. The teeth are simple, conical, and numerous, varying in number even in individuals of the same species. The cranium is very small compared with the face, concave, and much elevated in front and arched behind; the snout is narrow and elongated from the prolongation of the maxillaries and intermaxillaries, which are not curved forward above; the upper jaw is a little shorter than the lower; the maxillaries extensively overlap the frontals; the tubercles which represent the nasal bones are above the intermaxillaries, resting on the frontals; the parietals are below the maxillaries, and quite on the side; the symphysis of the lower jaw is extensive, and the bone is light and hollow. The cervical vertebræ, 7 in number, are very thin, and united together in the different genera; the dorsals are 13, with as many pairs of ribs, their articular processes becoming effaced by age, commencing posteriorly, and the transverse being about as long as the spinous processes; the lumbar vertebræ are 18, with very long transverse and spinous processes; a sacral vertebra can hardly be said to exist, as the pelvis consists of a rudimentary bone on each side suspended in the muscles; the caudal vertebræ are about 28, gradually decreasing in size, the transverse processes disappearing about the 16th, and the spinous about the 20th; exclusive of the cervicals, there are about 60 vertebræ in all; the V-shaped bones on the under surface of the bodies begin about the 6th caudal. The breast bone is composed of 3 bones, the 1st very wide, grooved in front, and usually pierced with a hole; the shoulder blade is fan-shaped, slightly concave; the clavicle is absent; the pectoral fin is com posed of a very short humerus, with a large

upper tuberosity, its lower extremity compress ed antero-posteriorly, and uniting by a cartilaginous articulation on an irregular line with the bones of the forearm; the latter are almost rectangular, short and flat, the radius in front and the widest; the bones of the wrist, 6 or 7 in number in 2 rows, form a flat pavementlike surface united by cartilage to the radius and ulna; there is a mere vestige of thumb, ac cording to Cuvier, the index finger being the longest and having 9 articulations with its metacarpal bone and phalanges, the 3d with 7, the 4th with 4, and the 5th a mere tubercle. This anatomical description will answer generally for dolphins and porpoises, and the allied genera. Dolphins are among the swiftest of cetaceans, and their speed is owing to the strokes of the powerful tail; the pectoral fins serve merely to balance and guide the body, and to carry the young. The eye and ear are constructed on the mammalian type; the nasal passages seem destined only for the expulsion of water from the mouth and for the introduction of air into the lungs, and are generally considered as not endowed with an average sense of smell; the allied sense of taste must be very imperfect, and the sensibility of the naked skin low. The teeth are formed only for seizing and retaining prey, which is swallowed whole. Authors differ as to the stomach, some making it single, but most dividing it into 3, 4, or 5 compartments more or less complicated; the intestine is simple, 10 or 11 times as long as the body, and gradually diminishing in size from the stomach to the anus. As the dolphin, like the other cetacea, is not a fish but an air-breathing mammal, warm-blooded, viviparous, and suckling its young, its respiration must be carried on by the usual mechanism of lungs, diaphragm, ribs, and respiratory muscles. Though shaped like fishes, inhabiting the water exclusively, and moving in the same manner with them, it must come to the surface by means of its horizontal tail, and take in air through the single spiracle on the top of the head, which it can do when the mouth is full of water by means of the upward prolongation of the larynx into the nasal passages, and the shutting off of its cavity by muscular action from the mouth and oesophagus; the external opening of the spiracle is guarded by a valve, which prevents the entrance of water when the animal plunges beneath the surface. The water which is taken into the mouth with the food can be made to pass out in a jet from the spiracle, by the closing of the pharynx, and the forcing of the liquid into the nose through the passage in which the larynx is elevated during respiration. Under the skin, in front of the nostrils, are 2 large cavities covered with muscles; into these the water is sent, and remains until the animal chooses to eject it; then, closing a valve at their entrance, the water is sent forth by the contraction of the muscles. The dolphin family make a feeble moaning or plaintive noise, which has often been noticed when they have been stranded alive. The circulation is

555

carried on as in other mammals; only, in order to enable them better to remain under water, there is a plexiform arrangement of the arteries within the chest and near the spine, which serve as reservoirs of pure blood during immersion; these do not communicate directly with veins, and their contents can be taken into the circulation as circumstances require. The reproductive organs are the same as in other mammals, and their functions are similarly performed; the testes are within the abdomen; the prostate gland is large, but the seminal vesicles are absent; the mammæ are 2, with the nipples concealed in a fold of skin, except during lactation, when they protrude on each side of the genital opening. The kidneys are made up of many small glands united. The brain is very wide, the hemispheres however covering only a portion of the cerebellum; the convolutions are numerous and complicated, but narrow; the olfactory lobes seem to be wanting; the cerebellum is well developed, with distinct median and lateral lobes. This great cerebral development affords some ground for the ancient belief in the superior intelligence of the dolphin; the history of this animal, sacred to Apollo, though encumbered with fabulous and superstitious accounts, doubtless contains much truth which whale-hunting moderns have not cared to examine.-As the dolphin family till recently included all ordinary cetaceans with small heads, the divisions which have since been made are very numerous, and no system of classification as yet offered can be called natural; in this condition of cetology, it would be out of place to attempt here to introduce order into this class of animals; such only, therefore, as would not come more properly under whales, porpoises, and other popular titles, will be briefly alluded to; those who wish to pursue the subject into its details can consult the writings of Lacépède, the Cuviers, De Blainville, Lesson, Eschricht, Gray, and others. At the head of the list is the common dolphin (D. delphis, Linn.); this, from the shape of the beak, is vulgarly called the "goose of the sea;" it was the hieros ichthys (sacred fish) of the ancients, the favorite of Apollo (whose most famous oracle bore its name), and the supposed benefactor of man; it is seen on very ancient coins and medals, and formed a conspicuous object on the coat of arms of the princes of France; from it was named the province of Dauphiné, which gave the title to the heir apparent to the French throne. It attains a length of from 6 to 10 feet, and its proportions are admirably adapted for the speed which is its characteristic. The color is dark on the back, grayish on the sides, and satiny white underneath. The geographical range of this species is extensive, embracing the seas of Europe, the Mediterranean, and the northern and temperate Atlantic; other species are found in the seas of America, Asia, and Africa. Vessels frequently meet them in large numbers, shooting under the bows, springing out of the water, and playfully racing with their

fellows; their speed is such that the swiftest sailing vessel seems stationary beside them. The dorsal fin is about 9 inches high, a little behind the middle of the back; the pectorals, about 2 feet from the snout, are somewhat longer than the dorsal, narrow and rounded; the tail is crescent-shaped, with a notch in the middle, and about a foot wide; the jaws have from 32 to 47 teeth on each side, according to age, simple, conical, largest in the middle of the series. During rapid motion the tail is bent under the body, and then suddenly brought into a straight line. The dolphin is voracious, living principally upon fish, which it boldly pursues, even into the midst of the fishermen's nets. F. Cuvier is inclined, with the ancients, to consider it an intelligent and docile animal; seeing in the fabulous stories of antiquity the symbols of hidden truth, he thinks an examination of the habits of the dolphin will disclose to naturalists a foundation in fact for the supposed intelligence of this species. In former times the flesh of the dolphin was as much esteemed for food as it is now neglected; in the 16th century its price was so high that it was only seen on the tables of the rich; in the time of Dr. Caius, the founder of the college of that name at Cambridge, a dolphin was thought a worthy present for the duke of Norfolk, who in turn distributed it to his friends, who roasted and ate it with porpoise sauce; in France, the dolphin could be eaten by Roman Catholics, especially during Lent, without sin; at that time all cetaceans were considered fish, though really their flesh was as much meat as that of the ox or sheep; the meat is dark-colored, palatable and nutritious, and is now often eaten by seafaring men on long voyages. The D. tursio (Fabr.), the nesarnak of the Greenlanders, has a thick body, a flattened, short beak, obtuse teeth, a dorsal fin, and a blackish color, except a small part of the abdomen, which is whitish; it attains a size of 9 to 15 feet, has from 88 to 100 teeth, and inhabits the Atlantic from the shores of Europe to those of Greenland; it is less active than the common dolphin. Another name for it is the bottle-nosed dolphin or whale. Other dolphins are the lead-colored dolphin (D. plumbeus, Dussumier), about 8 feet long, of a leaden-gray color, rather sluggish in its movements, with about 136 teeth, found on the coast of Malabar, near the shore, where it pursues the pilchards; the bridled dolphin (D. frenatus, Duss.), less than 6 feet long, having on the ash color of the cheeks a black band extending from the angle of the mouth below the eye, found in the neighborhood of Cape Verd; the eyebrowed dolphin (D. superciliosus, Lesson), about 4 feet long, of brilliant blackish-blue color above, silvery below, with a white streak over the eye, found in the neighborbood of Cape Horn; the funenas of the Chilians (D. lunatus, Less.), about 3 feet long, with a slender beak, fawncolored above, white below, with a dark brown cross on the back, in front of the dorsal fin, numerous in Conception bay. Among the del

phinide which would not be better described elsewhere, is the genus delphinapterus of Lacépède, having no dorsal fin, and a slender transversely flattened beak, separated from the cranium by a deep furrow. Péron's dolphin (D. Peronii, Cuv.) is about 6 feet long, elegant in form and proportions, of a deep bluish-black color above, with the snout, sides, pectorals, abdomen, and part of the tail silvery white; the teeth are about 39 on each side of each jaw; like the rest of the genus, it is found in high southern latitudes. The allied genus beluga (Bon.) has an obtuse, conical, and rounded head, without prominent beak, and without dorsal fin. The whitefish, or white whale (B. borealis, Less.), is a very swift dolphin, of a beautiful cream-white color and symmetrical shape, not unlike in its general outline the new steamship of the Messrs. Winans of Baltimore, that is, a double cone, of which, however, one end is shorter and less sharp than the other in the cetacean; the length varies from 12 to 20 feet; the teeth, according to Cuvier, are ; being well covered with fat, it is sometimes chased by coast whalers, especially about the mouths of rivers, where it feeds upon the cod, haddock, flounder, and other fish; it is essentially an arctic species, though it descends to the temperate regions of both hemispheres; it has been seen in the river St. Lawrence as high up as Quebec. The genus globicephalus (Less.) includes the D. globiceps (Cuv.), commonly called the deductor, social, bottle-head, or howling whale; it resembles the beluga in the shape of the head, but differs from it in having a dorsal fin; the length is from 16 to 24 feet, and the general color of a shining jet black; the teeth are from 20 to 28 in each jaw; its favorite resort is the northern temperate ocean, in both hemispheres; it is included by Dekay in the fauna of New York; it is remarkable for its sociable disposition, herding together in great numbers, apparently following a leader, and easily driven upon beaches; the proper name is globicephalus melas (Less.); some species of the genus have been found in the Mediterranean. The grampus and the porpoise will be described under their respective titles. The heterodons of De Blainville, in which the teeth are absent or very few, though belonging to the delphinida, are generally called whales, and will be better introduced with them; they include the genera diodon (Linn.), or 2-toothed whales, hyperoodon (Cuv.), with protuberances on the palate, aodon (Less.), the toothless whale (by Gray considered synonymous with the last), and monodon (Linn.), or narwhal. The long-beaked dolphins (delphinorhynchus, Lacép.) are distinguished by having a prolonged snout, thin and narrow, not separated from the cranium by a furrow; the straight jaws are furnished with numerous sharp teeth, and the dorsal fin is single; some of the species attain the length of 36 feet. The best known species (D. micropterus, Cuv., and D. Sowerbyi, Desm.) is remarkable for the snout being 4 times the length of the cranium,

DOLPHIN

and for the curvature upward and forward of the posterior part of the intermaxillaries, carrying with them the maxillaries, frontals, and occipital; it is a northern species, and has been found stranded on the English and French coasts. There are 2 remarkable genera of fresh-water dolphins, one of which, the dolphin of the Ganges (platanista Gangetica, Gray.), will be described under Soosoo, the Bengalee name. The other is the Bolivian dolphin (inia Boliviensis, D'Orb.), found in the tributaries of the Amazon and the neighboring streams and lakes, even to the foot of the Andes; the beak is long like that of the dolphin, but cylindrical, bristled round with strong hairs, and obtuse at the end; the teeth are about 134, resembling incisors in front and molars behind; the body is short and slender, the pectorals large, the dorsal small and behind the middle of the back; the skin is fine and smooth; the average length of the adult is about 7 feet; the color varies from a pale blue to a blackish color above, and is rosy beneath. It comes frequently to the surface, and is comparatively slow in its movements; its food consists almost entirely of fish, which are devoured with the snout above water; it is killed by the natives for its oil. This curious animal seems to form an intermediate type between the carnivorous and the herbivorous or sirenoid cetaceans. The delphinidæ are of little value to the whaler, as they are difficult to catch from their speed and strength, and their covering of fat is much less than in the whales. Near the mouths of rivers and on the coasts herds of them are occasionally hunted with profit for their oil and their skins, and in high northern regions even for food. Many genera of delphinida inhabited the seas during the tertiary epoch, some very like the present dolphins, others very different from them. Their fossil remains are found abundantly in the miocene, pliocene, and diluvial strata of America and Europe. -The name of dolphin was long ago given by Dutch navigators to a scomberoid fish of the genus coryphaena (Linn.), inhabiting the Mediterranean and the seas of warm and temperate regions. The genus has no detached finlets, no isolated dorsal spines, and no armature on the tail; the body is moderately long, more or less compressed, and covered with small scales; there is a single dorsal fin, with flexible rays, extending from the head to near the caudal; the ventrals are thoracic. The generic name is derived from κоpun, summit, in reference to the elevated shape given to the forehead by a bony crest of the interparietal and frontal which rises between the intermaxillaries and extends to the occiput; this gives a trenchant aspect to the head, with a very convex, facial profile; the eyes consequently seem low. The mouth is large, having card-like teeth on the jaws and palatal bones. The dolphin of the Mediterranean, so famous for the beauty of its colors when dying, is the C. hippurus (Linn.). Most writers, and especially the poets, have followed the Dutch error as to the name of this fish, and the term dolphin by sailors is taken

away from the cetacean and given to the scomberoid. This species grows to the length of about 5 feet; the colors are bluish green above, with azure and golden reflections, and citron yellow below, with pale blue tints; the pectorals are partly leaden and partly yellow, the ventrals yellow below and black above, the anal yellow, and the iris golden. In the Atlantic is the C. equisetis (Linn.), with a shorter body and more elevated head. On the coast of South America is the C. dorade (Val.), from the name given to the genus by the Portuguese. About a dozen other species are described in different parts of the globe. They are exceedingly active, strong, and voracious, pursuing the flying fish, forcing them to leave the water, and seizing them as they descend into it again. Their beauty is not confined to the dying state; when following vessels, as they often do, nothing can be more beautiful in a calm sunny day, in the clear water of mid ocean, than to see these brilliant creatures darting around the vessel, displaying their ever-varying tints of golden, blue, and green, with every movement. They gather around any floating object, and are readily caught by a hook or harpoon; when brought upon deck the beautiful play of rapidly changing colors commences, which has caused the poet to say: Parting day Dies like the dolphin, whom each pang imbues With a new color as it gasps away, The last still loveliest, till 'tis gone, and all is gray. These colors are produced, as in the chameleon and the cuttle-fish, by changes in the surface by muscular action, as may be seen by the constant undulation of the long dorsal fin. (See CHAMELEON.) The flesh of this fish is considered good food; it is white, though rather dry. Sailors have an idea, which is probably true, that it is sometimes unwholesome and even poisonous, and they are in the habit of boiling a piece of silver money with the fish to detect the fact; if the piece be tarnished by the boiling, the fish is rejected; if it remain bright, it is considered fit for the table.

DOMAIN, or DEMESNE (mediæval Lat. domanium, the dominion of the lord), in England, lands retained by the great landed proprietors for their own use; the terræ dominicales or demesne lands being occupied by the lord or dominus manorii; the other or tenemental lands being distributed among the tenants. The demesne lands of the king, terræ dominicales regis, which were at an early period very large, and to which additions were made by forfeitures and otherwise, had been, at the time when Blackstone wrote, almost entirely alienated; but as a portion of them were not conveyed absolutely in fee, but upon long leases, they will revert to the crown upon the expiration of those leases. The principal importance of the royal demesne lands grows out of certain incidents that at an early period attached to the estate of the tenants of those lands. The tenure by which such estates were held is designated by old writers as ancient demesne; and to some extent it still continues to