SHARKS 5 1 



in dogs and to a lesser extent in man. For this reason, the 

 natives only eat it when it has become partly rotten. 



Use is also made of the raw skin for footwear. Some of 

 the Eskimos of Greenland make special knives from the sharp 

 teeth, which are used for cutting the hair of their children, 

 there being a superstition that harm will result from the use 

 of iron for this purpose. 



In Greenland shark fishing may take place from small 

 wooden boats, or from the frail kyaks, but in the winter 

 months it may be carried on almost from the " doorsteps " 

 of the fishermen. Holes are cut in the ice, and sharks are 

 attracted to the spot by placing in the holes the intestines of 

 seals or other delicacies. Sometimes they are brought to 

 the surface by means of a light, gaffed with an iron hook and 

 hauled out on to the ice ; at other times they are caught on 

 baited hooks at the end of an iron chain suspended in the 

 water. Yet another method consists in baiting ordinary 

 iron fish-hooks and letting these down to the bottom with 

 long lines of common twine, and by means of these frail lines 

 the great clumsy sharks are pulled up to the surface. 



The scientific name, Somniosus, is derived from a Latin 

 word meaning " sleepy " ; microcephalus simply means 

 " small-headed " 



BRAMBLE OR SPINOUS SHARK. 



(Genus Echinorhinas.) Fig. .23. 



The body is more slender than that of the Greenland 

 Shark. The mouth is crescent-shaped, and the teeth are 

 alike in the 2 jaws, each tooth having the middle point very 

 strongly developed and turned outwards towards the side of 

 the jaw. The spiracles are minute, and the external gill- 

 clefts of moderate size. The 2 dorsal fins are without spines, 

 of small size, and the first is placed above the pelvics. The 

 skin is armed with scattered, round, flat, button-like denticles, 

 some of which are surmounted by a tuft of small prickles 

 like those on a bramble. The coloration is dark brown above, 

 sometimes with some darker spots, and paler or whitish 

 beneath. 



