Some Ocean Giants 203 



came to the notice of science. It was in Norway when, 

 about 1770, Gunner, Bishop of Throndjem, wrote the first 

 description of it and named it Squalus maximus — the great 

 shark. 



In 1894, a specimen was taken at Santa Barbara, skinned 

 and mounted. This one, after a season at the Midwinter 

 Fair, went to Stanford University, where its huge bulk 

 was long on exhibition in the basement of the museum, there 

 being no other room available which was large enough to 

 hold it. At last we had to throw it away for want of space ; 

 there was no one to whom we could give it. It was big 

 enough to require two flat cars to move it. 



In 1895 three specimens were obtained at Monterey by 

 Mr. John M. Stowell, a Stanford student, who sent them to 

 the three museums of Copenhagen, Berlin and Vienna. By 

 this time the price had fallen, and at $200 each there was 

 little profit, after spending a week in skinning the fish, cut- 

 ting the skin in sections and preserving the sections in half 

 a dozen hogsheads for shipment to Europe. Another 

 museum in Europe has an order out for one, but the shark 

 to supply it has not yet appeared. 



The basking shark, like most, but not all other sharks, 

 brings forth its young alive, the great eggs being hatched 

 within the body. This great fish is usually called the 

 basking shark from its sluggish habits. The name 

 elephant shark is also sometimes used, and the Japanese 

 call it the old woman shark, because it seems to have lost 

 its teeth. 



The scientific name of Cetorhinus, giving by Blainville in 

 1 81 7, means whale shark, because of all the sharks it has 

 most nearly the looks and behavior of the whale. Next to 

 the very small teeth, the best distinctive mark of the bask- 

 ing shark is the very large gill opening, which almost seems 

 to sever its head from its body. Only one species of bask- 

 ing shark is known. It constitutes by itself a single family. 

 It has been found on the shores of England, Scotland, Ire- 



