OARCHARIAS. 89 



after, the uncle of the gentleman was on board a 

 vessel in that region, the crew of which caught a 

 large shark. On opening him, a common prac- 

 tice of sailors, in the stomach they found, among 

 other things, a gold watch, chain and seals, 

 which being examined, were at once recognised 

 by the uncle as the very same he had given his 

 nephew, at the time of sailing." 



The aesophagug of this despot of the sea, is so 

 capacious, that a full sized man can readily be ta- 

 ken down whole. We possess, in a collection, the 

 dried jaws, which, opened, like the clasp of a 

 purse, will admit the shoulders of an adult person. 

 This fact, of the width and extensibility of the 

 throat, has given rise to an opinion that this was 

 the fish that swallowed Jonah. 



But we neither believe, nor infer from the de- 

 claration in the sacred narrative, any such ridicu- 

 lous supposition. The words are these, viz : 

 " Now the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow 

 up Jonah." Such is the anatomical structure ot 

 the teeth, in all the larger varieties of shark, with 

 which naturalists are conversant, that nothing can 

 be very conveniently extracted from the stomach, 

 through the aesophagus, which has once been ad- 

 mitted there. 



Like the entrance of a mouse-trap, there is free 

 admission, but no possible retreat. This mechan- 



