314 CHONDROPTERYGII. SHARK FAMILY. 



part of the British and Irish seas. It is affirmed 

 that on the coast of Cornwall as many as twenty 

 thousand have been taken in a net at one time. It 

 measures from three to four feet ; is of a slate-grey 

 on the upper parts, the under parts yellowish white. 

 Bloch states that the young are spotted with white ; 

 a fact which we had lately an opportunity of wit- 

 nessing in a small specimen, not a foot long, caught 

 among the rocks at Newhaven, near Edinburgh. It 

 was of a deep slate-colour on the back, and pretty 

 thickly spotted with white, which gave it a very 

 agreeable appearance. Mr. Couch informed Mr. 

 Yarrell, that for the purpose of using its spines, the 

 Picked Dog bends itself into the form of a bow, and 

 by a sudden motion causes them to spring asunder 

 in opposite directions ; and so accurately is this in- 

 tention effected, that if a finger be placed on its 

 head, it will strike it without piercing its own skin. 

 Low states, that when caught, the fish writhes him- 

 self around the fishermen's hands, often, if they are 

 not attentive, wounding them very severely, which, 

 if it happens in a part near a joint, is always dan- 

 gerous and bad to heal, making the part to swell 

 and look very red and fiery, and often endangering 

 a gangrene. However this may be, the fishermen 

 always fear these dreadful weapons, and when the 

 fish is hooked and brought up, commonly catch it 

 by the tail, and, with a smart jerk against the edge 

 of the boat, disable it. Mr. Couch has seen a mon- 

 strosity of this species with two heads, the separa- . 

 tion continuing so far back as behind the pectoral 



