TEETH AND FOOD 139 



among the strange objects which have been taken from the 

 stomach may be mentioned a bunch of keys dropped overboard 

 from a trawler, a hare, a partridge, a black guillemot, a long 

 piece of tallow candle, and from a specimen captured in 1626 

 and sent to the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge, "a work in 

 three treatises." Many of the deep-sea Angler-fishes {Cerati- 

 oidea) habitually seize and devour fishes larger than themselves, 

 and this greediness frequently leads to the death of both victim 

 and captor. Specimens have been found floating helplessly 

 at the surface of the sea, each of which had neatly coiled away 

 in its stomach a fish more than twice its own size. The 

 captured fish was probably seized by its tail, and in its struggle 

 to escape must have carried the Angler upwards : owing to the 

 arrangements of the teeth, the latter was unable to release its 

 hold and was forced to go on swallowing until it finally arrived 

 at the surface, its meal completed, but thoroughly exhausted 

 by the battle. The Common Angler (Lophius) of our own coasts 

 does not rely entirely on its angling for food, but when hungry 

 approaches ducks and other water birds from below and drags 

 them down. 



Finally, mention may be made of the following almost in- 

 credible "Shark story," which is vouched for by Mr. Frank 

 Cundall, the Secretary of the Institute of Jamaica: 



"In the eighteenth century an American privateer was 

 chased by a British man-of-war in the Caribbean Sea, and, 

 finding escape impossible, the Yankee skipper threw his 

 ship's papers overboard. The privateer was captured and 

 taken into Port Royal, Jamaica, and the Captain was there 

 placed on trial for his life (Mr. Cundall says 'for violation 

 of the Navigation Laws'). As there was no documentary 

 evidence against him he was about to be discharged when 

 another British vessel arrived in port. The Captain of this 

 cruiser reported that when off the coast of Haiti a shark 

 had been captured, and that when opened the privateer's 

 papers had been found in the stomach. The papers thus 

 marvellously recovered were taken into court, and solely on 

 the evidence which they aflforded the Captain and crew of 

 the privateer were condemned. The original papers were 

 preserved and placed on exhibition in the Institute of 

 Jamaica in Kingston, where the 'shark's papers,' as they 

 were called, have always been an object of great interest. 



"(Signed) A. Hyatt Verrill, New York, Nov. 20, 1915." 



