BELUGA, a genus of cthrcea (q.v.), of the family of delphinidir or dolphins (q.v.), differing from the rest of that family in the blunt and broad head, which has no pro (laced snout; the smaller number of teeth, the greater part of which often fall out before tire animal is far advanced in age: and the want of a dorsal tin. The only species found In the northern parts of the world is B. arctica (for which name there are unhappily many synonyms, as B. lemeas. etc.), the white whale and white fish of whalers, often called by English writers the B., and the ronnd-headed cachalot. The form of the B. is remarkably characterized by the softness of all its curves, and adapts it for rapid and graceful movements; its skin is usually of a clear white color, and not very so that it often fails to hold a harpoon. The B. attains a length of more than thirteen ft. 'The female brings forth two young ones at a birth, and displays the greatest solicitude for them. The food of the B. consists of fish, in pursuit. of which it often ascends rivers
to some distance. It is gregarious, and may he seen in herds of forty or fifty. which often gambol around boats: it abounds in most parts of the arctic seas, and sometimes. but not very frequently, visits the British shores. One was killed in the Firth of Forth In 1815, and one in the Medway in 1846. The Greenlanders take the B. with harpoons or with strong nets. Its flesh affords them a valuable of food, and is eaten by most of the inhabitants of arctic coasts; it affords also a considerable quantity of the very finest oll, and the skin is made into leather. Some of the internal membranes are also employed for various purnoses.—Another species of B. is found in the southern hemisphere. It is called B. Kingti.