269 



" There is no animal whose Natural History is so much 

 mixed up with error and fable as that of the shark. In 

 Darwin's ' Temple of Nature,' we find the following note, 

 every one assertion in which is erroneous: — 'The shark has 

 three rows of teeth within each other, which he can bend 

 downwards to admit prey, and raise to prevent its return. 

 His snout hanffs over his mouth so far that he is necessitated 

 to swim upon his back when he takes those that swim over 

 him ; and hence seems peculiarly formed to catch those that 

 swim under him.' 



" In the first place, the shark is not limited to three rows 

 of teeth. In numerous specimens which I examined, there 

 were eight or nine rows in progressive stages of growth ; the 

 outer row of course full grown, erect, or slightly inclining 

 inwards ; the next row inclining a little more ; and so on to 

 the inmost, which were mere embryos, buried in the liga- 

 mentous covering of the jaw-bone. Such a reserve seems 

 necessary for the preservation of the animal. His appetite, 

 as I have already mentioned, is so undiscerning that he often 

 bites at substances that prove too hard to be cut, or too tough 

 to be lacerated ; and his teeth are thus liable to be broken or 

 torn up by the roots. When this happens, the teeth of the 

 second row gradually rise up and take their place. In several 

 of the specimens above alluded to, I remarked two or three 

 teeth, in their progress to fill up a gap thus made, standing 

 midway between the first and the second rows. But this 

 disposition of teeth is by no means peculiar to the shark. 

 In the Spari, among many others, the jaws are literally paved 

 and hackled with teeth, crowded together in the utmost dis- 

 order, and it is rarely that you find the front teeth complete. 



" In the second place, the shark has not the power to bend 

 down, or to raise his teeth at pleasure. Though not ab- 

 solutely lodged in sockets, they are so firmly fixed as to be 

 incapable of the sudden and effective motion implied in the 

 note. If the prey was to be retained in his mouth, and there 

 digested, such a construction would perhaps be necessary; 

 but as it passes on without impediment into his stomach, no 

 peculiar contrivance of teeth seems to be called for. 



