TWO YOUNG A T ATURALISTS. 



"By the way, do you know what is the etymology 

 of the word requin ?" (the French for shark). 



"Well, it is from the Latin word requiem, because 

 when a man falls into the sea near a shark, the 

 requiem or office for the dead may be said for him. 

 These fishes are not epicures, and their voracity, as 



SWOKD-FISH (Xiphiax gladiiis, Lin.). 



everybody knows, induces them to seize on all kinds 

 of food. And as may be supposed, many tales, more 

 or less improbable, have arisen from this. For 

 instance, the Danish naturalist, Miiller, gravely states 

 that in the Mediterranean, near St. Margaret's Isle, a 

 shark was captured weighing more than fifteen hun- 



