170 NATURAL HISTORY [Fishes, 



examined differed in many particulars, even in fish of the 

 same size. 



GENUS F.— THE SHARK KIND. 



Gen. CAar.— Slender body, growing less towards the tail ; two fins on the back ; 

 rough skin ; five apertures on the sides of the neck ; mouth generally placed 

 far beneath the end of the nose ; the upper part of the tail longer than the 

 lower. 



* Without the Anal Fin. 



Species 1. — The Piked Dog-Fish. 



Galeus acantheus sive spinax, Wil. Icth. 56. The Piked-Dog or Hound-Fish, 

 Raii Syn. Pise. 21. Squalus acanthias, Lin. Sys. 397. Sib. Scot. 23, Brit. 

 Zool. 77. Ore. Hoe. 



The Piked Dog-Fish, in its rambles through the seas for 

 prey, often continues a short time on our coasts, and drives 

 off every thing else. It is a gregarious fish, and sometimes 

 comes in such shoals that the sea is covered, and our fisher- 

 men load their boats to the water's edge. They are very va- 

 luable to the captors; the fish is dried and eaten, and the liver 

 yields a great deal of oil, fit for and used by all the country 

 people in their lamps ; the skin is used to polish wood, as 

 also the fins, and the garbage makes excellent manure. 



