OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 317 



trals ; the anal fin does not reach close to the caudal ; the spines 

 of the dorsal fins are shorter, and the anterior teeth, figured by 

 Dumeril, are acutely tri-cuspid, the centre cusp large and resem- 

 bling those of H. galeatus. The colour is described as being of 

 a reddish-brown on the superior and lateral regions, and on the 

 fins, with round black spots irregularly disposed over the whole 

 surface. 



We thus find, that out of the vast numbers of Heterodonf 

 sharks which peopled all parts of the globe for myriads of 

 ages, from the first appearance of vertebrate animals on the 

 earth to the present day, but four species remain in existence, or, 

 if my suspicions relative to the Japanese fish be correct, at the 

 most only five, and those are for the most part so rare, and found 

 in such remote and limited localities, as to lead to the belief that, 

 as a race, they are in process of extinction. The history of 

 these extraordinary animals is, however, not more remarkable 

 and instructive than that of many others which geology tells 

 us have existed and passed their allotted period on the earth, and 

 then passed away, seemingly without a cause. But what is 

 extraordinary is, that the Evolutionists of the present day should 

 be able to manufacture, out of this constant succession of Life, 

 arguments in favour of their theory. When the Heterodonti first 

 made their appearance, their development seems to have been as 

 advanced as at the present day; they were preceded by no forms 

 of fishes, except a few Ganoids, from which they could scarcely be 

 evolved, and the first subsequent record of the existence of Sharks 

 was the teeth of Notidanus, a genus having no apparent affinity to 

 Heterodontus. The traces of these Sharks have been found con- 

 tinuously for a vast succession of geological periods, without any 

 appearance of deviation from the original, or approach to any sub- 

 sequent creation, and the succession of these fossil evidences have 

 been so unbroken and unvarying, that the usual excuse of the 

 Evolutionist when met with a difficulty, " That an unexampled 

 gap exists in the continuity of the geological periods," will 

 scarcely avail him in the present instance. 



