THE BONE SHAEK. 669 



at Eastport, Maine. Storer records the capture of an individual, taken at Provincetown in 1839 

 and exhibited at Boston, which measured thirty feet and three inches. It is not unfrequently har- 

 pooned by the whalers on the Pacific coast. A specimen was examined at Monterey by Jordan 

 and Gilbert. 



Very little is known of its habits. It is usually seen in summer, though this is doubtless due 

 to the fact that the fishermen are then in a position to observe them, while in winter the fishermen 

 remain in harbor and would not be so likely to notice their occurrence. Yarrell remarks: "When 

 north winds prevail they are most frequent on the west coast of Scotland, also on the north and 

 west coast of Ireland ; if westerly winds, they are not unusual along the whole line of the southern 

 coast." 



If these observations are correct, it seems probable that easterly and northerly winds are most 

 favorable for their appearance iu the waters of New England. 



These Sharks are sluggish in their movements, swimming lazily at the surface, and are said to 

 be so -indifferent to the approach of boats that they will allow them to touch their bodies without 

 moving, though, when struck with the harpoon, they swim away with much rapidity and strength. 



The only observations upon its food have been made in the vicinity of the Orkneys by Mr. 

 Lowe, who states that its stomach contained a red, pulpy mass, probably the roe of sea-urchins. 

 Liunajus supposed its food to consist chiefly of medusae or jelly-fishes. The teeth are very small, 

 and the structure of the gill-rakers would indicate that it feeds at the surface, straining its 

 food, like the whalebone- whales. The gill- openings extend from the back nearly to the median line 

 of the throat. The liver of this Shark is very large and yields a great quantity of oil. When 

 they make their appearance in our waters they are usually harpooned by the fishermen, who con- 

 sider their discovery as a great piece of good fortune. About the middle of last century there is 

 said to have been quite an extensive pursuit of this species in Massachusetts, considerable quan- 

 tities of oil being taken. In 1848 a vessel, cruising on the coast of Maine for humpback-whales, 

 fell in with many of them off Cape Elizabeth, and secured several of them. Captaiu Atwood 

 writes: " They are very rare now; once iu a great while you will see one. I don't think that more 

 than half a dozen have been caught near Provincetowu since 1810. I have heard of as high as 

 twelve barrels being taken from a single one, but have never seen one which yielded more than 

 eight barrels." 



In 1835 an individual was caught in a mackerel-net in Provincetown Harbor and harpooned; 

 iu 1836 or 1837 a second one was caught in a net, and after being secured the carcass was freed 

 by the fishermen from the net and afterwards drifted ashore in a state of decomposition. After 

 lying on the beach several days a fisherman visited him in order to get a slice to feed to his hens, 

 as is the custom at Provincetowu he supposing it to be a dead whale. Ascertaining what the 

 animal was, he removed the liver and sold the oil iu Boston for $103. it having produced five or 

 six barrels. In 1847 a third was captured. The pursuit of this animal is attended with consider- 

 able excitement and danger. 



Yarrell has recorded' the occurrence iu the summer of 1870 at Eastport, Maine, of three speci- 

 'niens, twenty -five to thirty feet in length, and also of one taken in 18G8, which measured thirty- 

 five feet. Captain Atwood gives the following account of his experience with one: 



"Coining one time from Boston to Provincetowu with my two boys, I saw the fin of a big 

 Bone Shark. We lowered the boat and pulled up on to him. This was about 18G3. I should 

 think he was thirty-five or thirty-eight feet long. It was smooth weather, and I threw the harpoon 



'Bulletin, Essex Inntitute, iii.p. 6. 



