BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 409 



On receipt of this letter and the drawing, Professor Baird made the 

 following further inquiry: 



"I notice you mark three strokes on the side of the neck as in the 

 shark. Was this the case, or was there a small opening covered by a 

 flap as in ordinary fish? I do not quite understand whether the snout 

 projected beyond the mouth or not, or whether the mouth is in the un- 

 der part of the head, or in the upper. 



"Was there anything in the tail of the fish bearing a resemblance to 

 that of the shark, or did you consider that the resemblance to the eel 

 was more decided! 



"You made a distinct fin just back of the head, while the third of 

 the fish towards the tail has a fin running along the back and around 

 on the under side. Does this correspond with your recollection ? 



"It is a matter of great interest to determine what the fish was. It 

 was apparently something entirely new. 



" Washington, D. C, September 24, 1S80." 



Mr. Hanna then replied as follows: 



"The three strokes on the side of the neck in the drawing are correct, 

 corresponding with those of the shark. As regards the mouth, the 

 upper part of the head did project a very little, but not more than from 

 half an inch to an inch. The projection was not so great as in the shark, 

 whose snout projects so that the mouth is cut off half the distance of 

 the head back. 



"There was nothing in the tail that had any resemblance to that of 

 the shark. The inference that I drew from your letter is that I caught 

 what the fishermen know as the swingle-tail shark, but such was not 

 the case. I am a fisherman of twenty-five years' experience, and am 

 acquainted with about every species of fish from the capes of Virginia 

 to Freuch Saint Peters [Saint Pierre, off Newfoundland], and I never 

 saw a fish that resembled that one entirely. Tbe shark family is very 

 numerous in the waters of Maine, and there is hardly a day that we do 

 not come in contact with them in some form or other. The swingle-tail 

 is not very plenty here. I have caught one in my day, and have seen 

 a half -dozen. The nurse-fish or liver-shark is another kind. It is a 

 bottom fish, and rarely if ever comes to the surface. There is another 

 member of the shark family that inhabits these waters, but is very 

 scarce, having a shark's head, and the rest of the body like dog-fish. 



The tail of this strange fish corresponds in the drawing with my rec- 

 ollection. Being dead, I examined it some ten or fifteen minutes, 

 hesitating whether to tow it to land or let it go. I decided if I landed 

 it I should lose $20 that day in my business, and so could not afford to 

 bother with it. If I had been nearer to Boston or New York, probably 

 I should have saved it. 



"New Harbor, Me., September 27, 1880." 



