POEBEAGLE SHAKE. 217 



nortli and sonth. The fishermen there reckon it a 

 day's sail out of sight of land. They are found on the 

 bank in great numbers, and the large dorsal-fin is seen 

 at a great distance, as it rises three or four feet out of 

 the water while they lie motionless basking in the 

 sun/' 



The Porbeagle [Lamna cornuhica ; German : Der 

 HfirhK/shai ; Danish: Sildehaa ; French : L« Lamie 



PORBEAGLE SHARK. 



Xez) has a very pointed nose ; teeth lancet shaped, 

 not dentules. He has a keel-shaped ridge each side of 

 the tail, the lobes of the caudal fin are nearly equal. 

 His head-quarters seem to be the Gulf of Gascony 

 and the north coast of Spain. He is a common visitor 

 on the western coast in summer, and not unfrequently 

 it wanders along the eastern borders of England and 

 Scotland. Mr. Couch writes: *'It usually proceeds 

 in small scattered companies, preying on pilchards and 

 herrings, and other small fishes that abound. The 

 teeth, which present a formidable array of spears, are 

 less formed for cutting than for seizing and holding its 

 prey ; which, therefore, it appears to swallow whole. I 

 have found the remains of cartilaginous fishes and 

 cuttles (Sepi(p,) in their stomachs ; and in one instance 

 three full-grown hakes." 



As they are caught in salmon nets I think it very 



