WHITE SHARK, 27 



or depression; anal fin a little less than the second dorsal. 

 Colour brown, darker on the back, lighter on the belly. 



It should be observed that the tail of the White Shark, as 

 represented in Mr. Yarrell's figure, 2nd. Ed., vol. ii, p. 502, 

 does not agree with a specimen of that part in my possession 

 from the West Indies, nor indeed with the other figure at page 

 503, nor with Lacepede's plate 8, fig. 1 of vol. i. 



The White Shark is to sailors the most formidable of all the 

 inhabitants of the ocean; for in none besides are the powers 

 of inflicting injury so equally combined with eagei'ness to ac- 

 complish it. They usually cut asunder any object of considerable 

 size, and thus swallow it; but if they find a difficulty in doing 

 this, there is no hesitation in passing into the stomach even 

 what is of enormous bulk; and the formation of the jaws and 

 throat render this a matter of but little difficulty. Ruysch says 

 that the whole body of a man, and even a man in armour, 

 (loricatus,) has been found in the stomach of a White Shark; 

 and Captain King, in his survey of Australia, says he had caught 

 one which could have swallowed a man with the greatest ease. 

 Blumenbach says a whole horse has been found in it: and 

 Captain Basil Hall reports the taking of one in which, besides 

 other things, he found the whole skin of a buffalo, which a 

 short time before had been thrown overboard from his ship. 

 Happily the visits of this fish to our coasts are too rare to 

 e.xpose our sailors to its depredations. 



Upper and under tooth of White Shark, 

 from the West Indies. 



