Curious Sharks 107 



the use of which one can only conjecture, and Sharks 

 whose vast jaws are Hned within with a sort of curious 

 mosaic of pearly surface, as if the mouth were a mill 

 in which could be ground or triturated the most 

 obstinate substances. Indeed, the arrangement of 

 these palatal and labial plates in some of the Sharks 

 is a matter for profoundest admiration. Nothing 

 like it can be seen in any other animal in the wide 

 world. 



Then there is the wondrous Saw-fish (Pristis), a most 

 amazing Shark, abounding in Eastern seas, who has 

 grown from his skull, right out before him, a fiat mass 

 of stiff cartilage edged with ivory teeth, set at regular 

 intervals of about three quarters of an inch. For 

 some strange reason, which I do not pretend to fathom, 

 this curious weapon has come to be confounded with 

 the sword of the Sword-fish {Xiphias), which I have 

 already described, and in country houses where there 

 are one or two specimens hanging in the hall, the visitor 

 is calmly invited to view the weapon with which ships 

 are sunk ! No one seems to consider that even if the 

 saw (not sword) were made of tempered steel, instead 

 of stiffened cartilage, it would be impossible for any 

 force behind it to drive it into anything tougher than 

 fat, because there is no point to it ; a sort of snout, 

 slightly turned up at the end, terminates it ; and 

 again, the saw-like arrangement of the teeth on each 

 side of it preclude the idea of its being a piercing 

 weapon. No, its function, though gruesome enough, 

 is not that of sinking ships by perforating their bilges. 

 This particular shark has a wide mouth, lined with 

 from forty to sixty rows of infinitesimal, needle-like 

 teeth. He is a specialist in food, and although not 

 averse to mumbling decaying carrion, should it come 

 his way, has a pleasant little fashion of disembowelling 



