GEN. LAMNA. PORTBEAGLE SHARK. 309 



it crushes previous to swallowing with its tissellated 

 teeth. It has been known to take a bait. The 

 young are produced alive in November, and the 

 whole come to perfection at once. We have on 

 several occasions seen specimens of this fish lying on 

 the beach at Newhaven near Edinburgh. It is not 

 rare among the Hebrides, where it is used as food 

 and esteemed a very delicate fish, its difference in 

 this respect from the other sharks being no doubt 

 occasioned by the different nature of its food. 



Gen. ex. Lamna, — In this genus the skin is 

 smooth, and the general aspect somewhat resembles 

 that of the porpoise. There are two dorsals, the 

 first high and large, the second small and placed 

 over the anal. The branchial openings are all before 

 the pectorals ; nostrils beneath the base of the 

 pyramidal snout. Up to a very recent period it has 

 been considered that there were two British species 

 of Lamna, the Portbeagle, and Beaumaris Shark. 

 Mr. Yarrell, after a careful examination of four spe- 

 cimens which have been taken on the coast since 

 1837, has come to the conclusion that the differ- 

 ences observed are only the effects of greater age, 

 and that all are referrible to a single species. 



(Sp. 225.) L. cornubica. Portbeagle or Beauma- 

 ris Shark. Appears to have been first recorded as 

 British by Mr. Jago, since whose time it has often 

 been met with in different parts of the British islands. 

 Dr. Goodenough obtained a specimen at Hastings ; 

 Pennant at Brighton ; Dr. Johnson two at Berwick ; 

 Mr. Couch has seen several at Cornwall ; and Dr. 



