58 GREENLAND SHARK. 



feet, and the girth from six to eight feet — thus being among 

 the stoutest of this family of predacious fishes. The mouth is 

 large, extending nearly across the \inder part of the head; the 

 teeth in several rows, serrated in one jaw, and lancet-shaped 

 and toothed in the other. Pupil of the eyes an emerald green, 

 the rest of the eye blue. The skin rough; ventral fins separate; 

 no anal fin. It has spiracles; the gill openings five; colour 

 ash grey. It is probable that Scoresby trusted to his figure 

 for a more particular representation of this fish; but for what 

 remains we have recourse to Dr. Fleming. His character of 

 the species is: — the first dorsal fin larger than the second, more 

 advanced than the ventrals. Teeth in the upper jaw broad at 

 the base, suddenly becoming narrow and lanceolate, with the 

 cutting edges rough; in the lower jaw the teeth are pyramidal, 

 compressed, the cutting edges crenulated, a little convex on the 

 fore edge, and subangularly concave on the hind edge. Pec- 

 torals large; ventrals elongated, the two sides nearly parallel. 

 It appears that the tail is short. Pleming says he was in pos- 

 session of the jaws of an individual, presented to him by a 

 ]\Ir. Simonds, and which was caught in his presence in the 

 Pentland Frith. Another example was found dead at Burra 

 Frith, in XJnst. A third British example is recorded by Mr. 

 Yarrell, and is preserved in the Museum of the University at 

 Durham. It appears that another was found dead at the mouth 

 of the Seine, in France. Scoresby represents this Shark as a 

 decided enemy to the Great Greenland Whale, both alive and 

 dead. In the former case it bites pieces out of its flesh, and 

 the tail of this animal is often found to bear marks of the 

 injury; so that Whales avoid the places where they abound. 

 But the depredation is more decided when the Whale is dead. 

 It scoops large pieces of the blubber from the body, and gorges 

 itself to the fiill, without being terrified or driven away by the 

 presence of men, even if pierced through with a spear; for, 

 like the generality of its race, it is exceedingly retentive of life, 

 and apparently insensible to wounds. Its ferocity, however, is 

 expended on its prey, for it does not inflict any injury on the 

 men employed in cutting up the IVliale, and even seems to 

 be insensible to their presence. In the absence of other prey, 

 however, it has been known to attack a man. Its season and 

 mode of producing its young do not appear to have been 



