FAMILY SQUALIDiE LAMNA. 353 



recurved, the tips turning slightly outwards. The front teeth of the upper jaw (fig. 206, 3) 

 long and pointed, flattened on their anterior surfaces, rounded behind. Teeth on the sides 

 of the jaw (fig. 206, 4) small, compressed, triangular, and so much crowded behind as almost 

 to resemble tuberculated molars. On the palate is a rounded patch, which offers asperities to 

 the hand when moved forward. Across the roof of the mouth, a strong membranous fold. 



The first dorsal fin quadrilateral, higher than long ; its upper margin excavated ; its lower 

 angle pointed. It arises 43'0 from the point of the nose ; base 14'0 ; height in front 16'0. 

 The second dorsal very small, oblong, its lower angle behind ending in a prolonged point 3*0 

 long ; it arises thirty-eight inches behind the first dorsal, and has a base of 1 " 3 ; the height 

 of its broad anterior part, 2' 5. Pectorals long, pointed, deeply concave on the posterior mar- 

 gin, with a small base ; they are twenty-eight inches long, with a base of twelve inches. 

 The ventrals are forty inches behind the pectorals, which are quadrilateral, and the length of 

 the base twice the height. Anal fin small, similar in shape to the second dorsal, and slightly 

 posterior to it, midway between the ventral and base of the caudal. Caudal fin deeply lunate, 

 with slightly unequal lobes, the upper measuring twenty-five and the lower twenty-one inches ; 

 the tips three feet apart. 



Color. A general dark slate ; lighter beneath. When first taken from the water, it is said 

 to be of a deep bottle-green. Tongue mottled with black. 



Length ten feet two inches. 



This was an unusually large specimen, taken in the harbor of New-York, October, 1840. 

 The description and dimensions of the teeth are from a head of rather smaller size, commu- 

 nicated to the Lyceum about sixteen years since by Capt. Barnard,* and taken by him near 

 the light-ship stationed off Sandy Hook. 



This species receives its popular name of Mackerel Shark, from its being frequently ob- 

 served in pursuit of that fish. Its liver produces a large quantity of oil, which is highly 

 esteemed by curriers. It is allied to the Porbeagle of Europe, and appears to be more 

 numerous on the coast of Massachusetts than in our waters. 



* I take this opportunity of recording my thanks to this individual for his attention in securing many valuable species, 

 and for the accompanying memoranda. Capt. Barnard is well known in this community, by his almost unparalleled 

 sufferings among the Falkland islands. He was cruising among those islands for seal, when he discovered a shipwrecked 

 English vessel on the coast. He hastened to its relief, and succeeded in rescuing forty-seven persons, when they forcibly 

 took possession of his vessel, and carried her to England, basely leaving Capt. Barnard and two of his crew to encounter 

 the rigors of an antarctic winter on a desolate and uninhabited island. He remained there two years, suffering at times 

 the horrors of famine, when he was accidentally discovered and taken off. He has left a curious account of his suffer, 

 ings, under the title of " Narrative of the Sufferings and Adventures of Capt. Charles H. Barnard." New- York, 1829, 

 pp. 296. 



Fauna — Part 4. 45 



