The Dolphin In History - free ebook by John Cunningham Lilly

The Dolphin in History

Papers delivered by Ashley Montagu and John C. Lilly at a symposium at the Clark Library, 13 October 1962 WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY University of California, Los Angeles 1963...

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Foreword

Recently the dolphin has become the focus of much scientific interest and investigation which have led to flattering pronouncements about its remarkable intelligence, amiability, and astonishing friendliness towards man. It was in consequence of such activities that a symposium was held at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library to consider the background to contemporary studies of the dolphin. The presentations of Dr. Ashley Montagu and Dr. John C. Lilly were received so favorably that it wa

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THE HISTORY OF THE DOLPHIN

by Ashley Montagu The friendly Dolphin, while within the maine, At libertie delightes, to sport and play, Himselfe is fresh, and doth no whit retaine The brinish saltnes of the boundless Sea Wherein he lives. Such is the secret skill Of Nature working, all thinges at her will. Henry Peacham, Minerva Britanna , 1612...

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The History of the Dolphin

By ASHLEY MONTAGU I have met with a story, which, although authenticated by undoubted evidence, looks very like a fable. Pliny the Younger The history of the dolphin is one of the most fascinating and instructive in the historiography and the history of ideas in the western world. Indeed, it provides one of the most illuminating examples of what has probably occurred many times in human culture—a virtually complete loss of knowledge, at least in most segments of the culture, of what was formerly

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Appendix A A Note for Bibliophiles

It was an ancient belief, as Camerarius tells us, that “when tempests arise, and seamen cast their anchor, the dolphin, from its love to man, twines itself round it, so that it may more safely lay hold of the ground.” I know of no verifying evidence for this statement, but should not be surprised to find some element of truth in it. The dolphin twined about an anchor is the device which Aldus Manutius (1450-1515) adopted for his Aldine Press, which began publication in 1494. This device was late

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Genus Tursiops

T. truncatus : The Bottle-Nosed Dolphin. Has a short well-defined snout 2 or 3 inches long. There is a prominent fin in the middle of the back. Reaches a length of 11 to 12 feet. Has a very wide range. Commonest along the Atlantic coast of America from Maine to Florida. Found in Bay of Biscay, in the Mediterranean Sea, and in New Zealand waters. T. abusalam : Red Sea; 6 feet. T. catalania : Indian and Australian seas....

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Genus Steno

S. rostratus : The Rough-Toothed Dolphin. Long-beaked, with roughened or furrowed teeth. Atlantic and Indian Oceans; about 8 feet....

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Genus Orcaella

O. brevirostris : Irrawaddy River Dolphin. From Bay of Bengal, Vizagapatam, Singapore, and Siam (i.e., S.E. Asia)....

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Genus Lissodelphis or Tursio

Lissodelphis : The Right Whale Dolphin. All oceans....

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Genus Grampus

G. griseus : Risso’s Dolphin. North Atlantic, Mediterranean, New Zealand, and Cape of Good Hope; 12 to 13 feet....

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Genus Cephalorhynchus

These are the Southern, mostly cold-water dolphins. C. heavisidei : Heaviside’s Dolphin. Cape of Good Hope; about 4 feet. C. hectori : Hector’s Dolphin. New Zealand; about 6 feet. C. albiventris : White-Bellied Dolphin. A very rare form, found off the coast of South America; about 4 feet 6 inches. C. commersonii : Commerson’s Dolphin; also known as the Piebald Porpoise or Le Jacobite. Southern oceans; up to 5¼ feet....

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Genus Lagenorhynchus

Characterized by great number of vertebrae (80 to 90), great length of transverse and vertical bony processes from vertebrae, moderately pointed high back fin having concave posterior border; the beak is short. L. acutus : The White-Sided Dolphin. North Atlantic; about 9 feet. L. australis : Peale’s Porpoise. Cape Horn, Chile, Patagonia, Falkland Islands; over 7 feet. L. albirostris : The White-Beaked Dolphin. North Atlantic; 9 to 10 feet. L. cruciger : South Pacific; 5 to 6 feet. L. fitzroyi :

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Genus Sotalia

Concentrated in the tropical seas or rivers of South America, Africa, India, and the Far East. S. pallida : Buffeo blanco. Upper Amazon; 5 feet 6 inches. S. fluviatalis : Buffeo negro. Upper Amazon; 3 feet 7 inches. S. tucuxi : Upper Amazon. S. guianensis : N. E. coast of South America. S. teuszii : Noteworthy as being the one Cetacean believed to feed exclusively on vegetable matter. Kamerun River. S. gadamu : Vizagapatam; averages 7 feet; snout 6 inches. S. lentigiosa : Vizagapatam. S. plumbea

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The Fresh Water Dolphins. Genus Platanista

P. gangetica : The Susu or Gangetic Dolphin; about 8 feet; snout and beak drawn into long forceps-like beak, 7 or 8 inches long; confined to River Ganges and River Indus. It is almost blind....

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Genus Inia

I. geoffrensis : Amazonian Dolphin or Boutu. Upper Amazon; 7 feet; long beak....

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Genus Pontoporia

P. blainvillei : La Plata Dolphin. Estuary of Rio de la Plata; about 5 feet....

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Genus Lipotes

L. vexillifer : Chinese River Dolphin. Ting Ling Lake, 600 miles up the Yang-tse River; 7 feet 6 inches; slightly upcurved jaws....

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The Porpoise

The small beakless Delphinidae, which have a triangular dorsal fin and spade-shaped teeth, black above and white below; travels in large schools. The word “porpoise” is derived from the French porc-poisson , “pig-fish.” Never larger than 6 feet....

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Genus Phocaena

P. phocaena : The Common Porpoise. Chiefly North Atlantic and North Pacific; never larger than 6 feet. P. spinipinnis : Burmeister’s Porpoise. Rare. La Plata round Horn to Peru. P. dalli : Dall’s Harbor Porpoise. Very rare. Alaska; less than 5 feet. P. truei : True’s Porpoise. Japan; less than 5 feet. P. dioprica : River Plate to South Georgia....

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Genus Neomeris

N. phocaenoides : Finless Black Porpoise. Cape of Good Hope to Japan....

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Genus Lissodelphis

L. peronii : New Zealand and Tasmania; about 6 feet. L. brealis : North Pacific; about 8 feet. The Right Whale Dolphins...

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The Whales with Teeth

The toothed whales are big dolphins, and are on the average much smaller than the Whalebone or Baleen toothless Whales....

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Genus Physeter

P. catodon : The Sperm Whale or Cachalot. All oceans. Male may reach 60 feet, the female usually half the length of the male. This is the whale that has suffered the relentless persecution of whalers, always a coveted prize on account of its spermaceti-permeated blubber, and its excretory ambergris. The most dangerous of whales....

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Subfamily Kogiinae Genus Kogia

K. breviceps : The Pigmy or Lesser Sperm Whale. Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Antarctic oceans; about 10 feet....

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Family Ziphiidae

Genus: Hyperoödon rostratus : The Bottle-Nose Whale. North Atlantic, Mediterranean, South Pacific, and Antarctic; 20 to 30 feet. Genus: Mesoplodon : “The Cow Fish;” Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. Genus: Ziphius : The Two-Toothed Whale. All oceans. Genus: Tasmacetus : South Pacific. Genus: Berardius : Pacific....

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Family Monodontidae or Delphinapteridae Subfamily Delphinapterinae

Genus: Monodon monocerus : Narwhal or Sea Unicorn. Arctic seas south of the ice-field. The male is characterized by an immense tusk, sometimes 9 feet long, projecting like a spear from the left side of the bluntly-rounded muzzle. The tusk is spirally grooved, and is the source of the horn of the unicorn of heraldry. Mottled in color, and about 18 feet long. Genus: Delphinapterus leucas : The White Whale or Beluga. Resembles the Narwhal in size, shape, and habitat, but the tusk is absent....

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Family Delphinidae Genus Globiocephala

G. melas : Pilot Whale or Black-Fish or Ca’ing Whale. Temperate or tropical seas. Rounded head with dorsal fin. Takes its name from the fact that one whale or pilot leads the way of the sometimes huge schools; about 25 feet....

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Genus Orcinus

O. orca : Killer Whale or Grampus. All seas. With a high dorsal fin and black and white coloring, aggressively bold and carnivorous, with singular cunning and intelligence. Fourteen seals and thirteen porpoises have been found in the stomach of a male measuring 21 feet. The male is usually about 30 feet in length....

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Genus Pseudorca

P. crassidens : The False Killer Whale or Lesser Killer Whale. All seas....

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REFERENCES

By JOHN C. LILLY The intelligence of whales has been the subject of speculation by writers since Ancient Greece. [1] [2] The discovery of the large brains of the Cetacea in the eighteenth century led to inevitable comparisons of these brains to those of the humans and of the lower primates. The winds of scholarly opinions concerning the whales have anciently blown strongly for high intelligence but during later centuries shifted strongly against high intelligence. At the time of Aristotle (384-3

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TABLE I Threshold Quantities for Human Acquisition of Speech: Age and Brain Weight[7]

Table 1 shows relations between age, brain weight, and speech performance, up to 23 months, 1070 grams, and the use of full sentences. By 17 years, the brain reaches and levels off at 1450 grams and the number of words, levels of abstraction, etc., are so large as to be difficult to assess. In these processes, what are the minimum necessary but not necessarily sufficient factors? [20] On the biological side, modern theory concentrates on two factors: total numbers of neurons and the number of in

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William Andrews Clark Memorial Library Seminar Papers

Editing Donne and Pope. 1952. Problems in the Editing of Donne’s Sermons, by George R. Potter. Editorial Problems in Eighteenth—Century Poetry, by John Butt. Music and Literature in England in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. 1953. Poetry and Music in the Seventeenth Century, by James E. Phillips. Some Aspects of Music and Literature in the Eighteenth Century, by Bertrand H. Bronson. Restoration and Augustan Prose. 1956. Restoration Prose, by James R. Sutherland. The Ironic Tradition in

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