2900 



SHARKS AND RAYS 



over, are stnall and numerous, being either blunt or with indistinct cusps, and 

 forming a kind of pavement-like structure; those in the upper jaw being similar to 

 those in the lower. The smooth hound, which is the species here figured, is gen- 

 erally about four feet in length, although it may reach to six feet. The sides of 

 the back are marked by a series of whitish spots, more distinct in the young than 

 in the adult. Feeding on mollusks and crustaceans, this species (which ranges 

 over most warm seas) produces about a dozen young at a birth, these being at- 



SPINY DOGFISH AND SMOOTH HOUND. 



(One-fifth natural size.) 



lached by a placental structure to the walls of the uterus of the parent. Curiously 

 enough such connection is, however, totally wanting in the young of the other 

 British species (M. vulgaris). In habits the hounds are bottom-haunting species, 

 as indeed might be inferred from the nature of their food. On the English coast 



