268 Dzvellers of the Sea and Shore 



will commence blowing just before it actually reaches 

 the surface, and in that event some water is carried 

 upward by the blast. It is quite possible, therefore, 

 that this illusory effect has confounded many observers. 

 The height to which the column ascends has also been 

 subject to much exaggeration; in the very largest 

 whales the spout does not exceed twenty feet at the 

 highest. 



Most whales as a rule are peaceably inclined and 

 inoffensive; with the exception of the killer whale and 

 one or two other doubtful kinds, the greatest danger 

 from a close encounter with them lies in a cliance blow 

 from the powerful tail. A large individual can easily 

 splinter a small boat into fragments with one sweep of 

 its massive flukes, gravely endangering if not destroy- 

 ing the occupants outright. But for positive and pre- 

 potent danger to man, we must look to the sharks who 

 in this respect take precedence over every other crea- 

 ture, great and small, which lives in the sea. 



Although sharks are found in all oceans, they are the 

 most numerous in the tropics. Since there are more 

 than one hundred and fifty described species of these 

 animals, it will become apparent to the reader that the 

 group is not so small as is commonly supposed. They 

 are gill breathers; hence they are true fishes. Some of 

 the sharks bear fully developed young; others lay eggs. 

 The eggs are large in comparison with those of other 

 fishes, and each one is usually contained in a tough, 

 horny, quadrangular case, the corners of which are pro- 

 longed into tendrillike processes apparently for the 

 purpose of entangling the object in seaweeds. These 

 egg cases are ofttimes carried by the waves to the 



