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“There is no animal whose Natural History is so much 
mixed up with error and fable as that of the shark. In 
Darwin’s ‘Temple of Nature, we find the following note, 
every one assertion in which is erroneous :—* The shark has 
three rows of teeth within each other, which he can bend 
downwards to admit prey, and raise to prevent its return. 
His snout hangs over his mouth so far that he is necessitated 
to swim upon his back when he takes those that swim over - 
him; and hence seems peculiarly formed to catch those that 
swim under him." 
* In the first place, the shark is not limited to three rows 
of teeth. In numerous specimens which I examined, there 
were eight or nine rows in progressive stages of growth; the 
outer row of course full grown, erect, or slightly inclining 
inwards; the next row inclining a little more; and so on to 
the inmost, which were mere embryos, buried in the liga- 
mentous covering of the jaw-bone. Such a reserve seems 
necessary for the preservation of the animal. His appetite, 
as I have already mentioned, is so undiscerning that he often 
bites at substances that prove too hard to be cut, or too tough 
to be lacerated ; and his teeth are thus liable to be broken or 
torn up by the roots. When this happens, the teeth of the 
second row gradually rise up and take their place. In several 
of the specimens above alluded to, I remarked two or three 
teeth, in their progress to fill up a gap thus made, standing 
midway between the first and the second rows. But this 
disposition of teeth is by no means peculiar to the shark, 
In the Spari, among many others, the jaws are literally paved 
and hackled with teeth, crowded together in the utmost dis- 
order, and it is rarely that you find the front teeth complete. 
“ In the second place, the shark has not the power to bend 
down, or to raise his teeth at pleasure. Though not ab- 
solutely lodged in sockets, they are so firmly fixed as to be 
incapable of the sudden and effective motion implied in the 
Rote. If the prey was to be retained in his mouth, and there 
digested, such a construction would perhaps be necessary; 
ut as it passes on without impediment into his stomach, no 
Peculiar contrivance of teeth seems to be called for. 
