12 Mindeskrift for J. Steenstrup. XXX. 



Umanak Fjord in ]908 I was informed that a chalk-white Greenland siiark had been 

 caught in the previous year. 



Regarding the reproduction of the Greenland shark we still know nothing beyond 

 that numerous, soft, shell-less eggs (ovarial eggs) have been found in large females, in 

 size up to that of a hen's egg (hut spherical), but whether these are later "spawned" 

 or develop to embryos in the mother, is still uncertainM. 



The principal product of the Greenland shark is the oil extracted from the liver. 

 Self-running oil"^) is light and clear and readily runs up the wick; it is used in Greenland 

 as lamp oil, as petroleum is not permitted in the houses owing to the danger of fire. In 

 North Greenland especially shark oil is the ordinary means of illumination among the 

 Danes, in South Greenland seal oil is also used^). By far the greater part of the shark 

 oil is exported : it is mixed with seal oil to form a specific Greenlandic sort of oil known 

 on the market under the name of "Trekronetran". The Greenland Administration pay 

 the natives 3 0re per pound for shark liver against 4 0re per pound of seal blubber, 

 though a barrel of shark liver on burning gives only 57 pots of oil, whilst a barrel of blub- 

 ber gives 98 pots, of an even more valuable sort^). 



In Nortli Greenland, where the dog plays such a large part as draught animal for 

 the sledge, the shark fishery has the additional importance of providing food for the 

 dogs. In the dried condition especially shark flesh is an excellent dog food, it gives 

 the animals strength to sustain prolonged exertions without being fatigued. In tlie 

 fresh condition, "ii (In' (ithcr hand, it is dangerous for the dogs; when they eat a 

 quantity of it they become heavy and subject to giddiness (they are said to be "shark- 

 intoxicated"): on driving a short distance with them they begin to hang their ears, tumble 

 from side to side and at last fall down in cramp-convulsions, after which they cannot 

 be got to move fi'inii (he spot: in a couple of minutes the dog may recover, but when 

 it runs again, the whole body quivers and the dog has no power to drag; at the same 

 time, especially when the weather is warm. Ih(^ animal has diarhoea, its foeces are 

 "squirted out" as greenish water; sometimes I he animal dies of the sickness. At 

 places where shark food is plentiful, however, the dngs accustom themselves to eating 

 a large amount of it without being sick: but if they are driven in the warm sunshine 



') Cf. H. F. E. Jungersen: Oa tlie Appendices Genitates in tlie Greeiitand Stwi'lc and other 

 Selachians, pp. 2 & 3; The Danish Ingolf-Expedition, II, 2, 1899-. 



-) "Self-running" sharlv oil is obtained as follows; the frozen shark liver is beaten with a 

 liammer to a masli, whirli is |daced in a tub and wlion tlie weather becomes mild tlie oil runs 

 out of itself. 



') The natives prefei' seal oil in their lamps, wliiili as is well-known serve not only for lighting 

 purposes, but also for warming the houses; but in tlie absence of seal blubber they use sliark oil. 



■*) It is maintained as a leading principle for the mono|ioly-trade of the Danish State in Green- 

 land, that the Greenland products that are of special use for the natives are bought at relatively 

 low prices, not to lead the inhabitants to dispose of that which is necessary to support life, and 

 here among other things seal-blubber is reckoned. 



