CHONDROPTERYGII. 633 



requiem, the rest or stillness of death, in allusion to the 

 deadly character of its habits ; and when we consider its 

 enormous size and powers, the strength and number of its 

 teeth, the rapidity of its movements, its frequent appearance 

 during all the turmoil and horrors of a tempest, with death 

 and destruction apparent in every blast and every wave, to 

 add to the horror of the scene by the phosphoric light emitted 

 from its huge body near the surface of the troubled waters, 

 with its open mouth and throat ready to swallow entire the 

 despairing sailor, we must admit the propriety of a name, 

 expressive of that natural association of ideas, which connects 

 this cruel monster of the deep with death. 



The story of Sir Brock Watson, far from singular in its 

 kind, but much more remarkable for the escape of that gen- 

 tleman from total destruction, is almost trite by repetition. 

 He was bathing from his ship, when a shark came in sight, 

 and though a rope was almost instantly thrown to him, by 

 which he was hauled up the ship's side, the fish darted at 

 him, and at a single bite took off one of his legs. 



The teeth of a white shark, of from thirty to five-and-thirty 

 feet long, are about two inches and a half in length from the 

 jaw ; they are extremely white, and cuspidated and serrated 

 on the edges ; their number seems to increase with the age 

 of the animal. When young, but a single row of them is 

 seen, and they are comparatively weak ; but when adult, 

 there are six distinct ranges of them. Each tooth is move- 

 able, and appears, something like the fangs of the venomous 

 snakes, to be capable of a partial erection when in action, by 

 means of muscles placed at the base : they are not inserted 

 in alveoli in the jaws, but are simply lodged in membranous 

 cells. The inner range of these teeth is the last formed, and 

 does not attain to the size and strength of the outer row, 

 till the animal has arrived at its full growth : these inner 

 teeth are directed backward, and their office is doubtless 



