316 FISHES. 



India and China a very important article of trade, the 

 Cliinese preparing from them gelatine, and using the better 

 sorts for culinary purposes. The fins are obtained not ex- 

 clusively from Sharks but also from Eays, and assorted in 

 two kinds, viz. " white and black." The white consist ex- 

 clusively of the dorsal fins, which are on both sides of the 

 same uniform light colour, and reputed to yield more gelatine 

 than the other fins. The pectoral, ventral, and anal fins pass 

 under the denomination of black fins ; the caudal fin is not 

 used. One of the principal places where shark fishery is 

 practised as a profession is Kurrachee. Dr. Buist, writing in 

 1850 ("Proc. Zool. Soc." 1850, p. 100), states that there are 

 thirteen large boats, with crews of twelve men each, con- 

 stantly employed in this pursuit ; that the value of the fins 

 sent to the market varies from 15,000 to 18,000 rupees ; 

 that one boat will sometimes capture at a draught as many 

 as one hundred sharks of various sizes ; and that the number 

 total of sharks captured during the year amounts probably to 

 not less than 40,000. Large quantities are imported from 

 the African coast and the Arabian Gulf, and various ports on 

 the coast of India. In the year 1845-46, 8770 cwt. of sharks' 

 fins were exported from Bombay to China. 



First Family — Carchariid^. 



Eye with a nictitating membrane. Mouth crescent-shaped, 

 inferior. Anal fin 'present. Two dorsal fins, the first opposite 

 to the space hetivecn pectoral and ventral fins, loithoiit spine in 

 front. 



Carcharias. — Snout produced in the longitudinal axis of the 

 body ; mouth armed with a series of large flat triangular teeth, 

 which have a smooth cutting or serrated edge. Spiracles absent. 

 A transverse pit on the back of the tail, at the root of the 

 caudal fin. 



This genus comprises the true Sharks, common in the 



