228 THE SPINOUS SHARK. CHAP. xi. 



case of an animal of a very singular appearance. It 

 was not until I had looked at it for some time that I 

 could bring my memory to bear upon it. I then 

 thought, and I have since been fully confirmed in the 

 opinion, that I discovered in it a specimen, or rather 

 the putrid remains, of the Spinous Shark. It wanted 

 the head, which had been broken off by the fish hav- 

 ing been dashed against the rocks by the waves. The 

 tail was also broken off, but still hung by a filament 

 to the body. In shape it somewhat resembled the 

 tail of the common dog-fish, but there evidently had 

 been two fins on the back, nearer to the posterior 

 than the anterior portion of the animal, though 

 these had been broken or rubbed off. The skin, 

 which was of a dark blue colour, and had a leathery 

 appearance, was thickly beset with curved thorns or 

 spines (whence the animal's name), nearly all of which 

 were more or less damaged. I know of nothing that 

 I could liken these thorns or spikes to, but the thorns 

 or spikes which may be seen on the stem of an old 

 rose bush, with this exception, that the spikes of 

 the fish are larger. From its position in the water, 

 though close to the rocks, I could not make out its 

 girth in any part whatever ; but, from where the 

 head had joined the body to the tip of the tail, it was 

 about two yards in length. Having fully satisfied 

 myself that the present specimen, from its decom- 

 posed state and the holes perforated in it by the 

 gulls, was beyond the state for preservation, I again 



