SHARK. 



65* 



Still, the fact of its not only astonishing the dol- 

 phins, but inflicting pretty severe chastisement on 

 the whalebone whales, has been so often stated, that 

 there appears to be no doubt that it is true, though, 

 how it could feed on these very large animals, is 

 another matter. But it may bear them a grudge 

 upon other grounds as rivals in its feeding, for the 

 small cetacea are great devourers of fish. We quote 

 from " Griffith's Cuvier" the following passage, which 

 probably relates to this shark, and which, from the 

 authority on which it rests, cannot be doubted : 

 " When Colonel Smith was in Jamaica, the captain 

 of a West Indian vessel happened to be upset in his 

 boat, along with two boys, about two miles distant 

 from the land of Montego Bay. This occurred in 

 the night ; and the three, with the aid of an empty 

 keg and billets of wood, betook themselves to swim- 

 ming. The boys soon disappeared one after the 

 other ; and the master, from the length of time 

 during which he had been in the water, became 

 quite exhausted and drowsy. From this state he 

 was suddenly, and not very agreeably, roused by a 

 tremendous blow on the breast, proceeding from a 

 shark which darted against him from below. The 

 man defended himself with his billet of wood, and 

 fought the monster for a long time, until he was at 

 last heard from the shore by some negro watchmen, 

 who went with a canoe to his assistance, and brought 

 him to land. The Colonel believes that he had 

 then about forty wounds, but had lost no limb. 

 The escape was attempted to be explained by the 

 probable conjecture that the shark had already 

 devoured the two boys, and had therefore become 

 too unwieldy to bite with sufficient effect. The 

 wounds were indeed mostly cuts inflicted with the 

 fins of the fish. The Colonel visited the estate 

 where the captain had been cured, a few days after 

 his departure, and learned the circumstance from the 

 medical resident who had attended him." 



This could not have been the white shark, for its 

 habit is to bite, or to swallow entire, so that it has 

 no need to strike with the fins ; and there was no 

 evidence of a direct bite of any kind inflicted on the 

 captain, or that the boys had been devoured by the 

 fish. In fact, the characters of two different species 

 have obviously been mixed up in this case, as they 

 have been in very many others ; and we are still in 

 the dark as to the real purpose of the flagellation 

 which the fox shark is said to inflict upon its more 

 bulky neighbours. The analogy would lead us to 

 suppose that the tail, powerful as it is, is a weapon, 

 and not a feeding instrument. This is the chief use 

 of all the weapons with which the bodies of fishes 

 are furnished, with the exception of the furnishing of 

 the mouth ; and though this shark should advance, 

 and apply this weapon, that does not in the least 

 alter the character of it. 



There are many other species or varieties of the 

 genus Carcharias, but very little is known of their 

 habits as different from the three that have been 

 mentioned, and therefore they must suffice in the 

 meantime. 



LAMNA. The best known species of this genus is 

 the Porbeagle, of which we shall speak more parti- 

 cularly by and by. The generic characters are : 

 the snout conical ; the nostrils in the under side ; 

 all the gill-openings in advance of the pectorals ; the 

 first dorsal only a little in the rear of the pectorals ; 

 the rest of the body-fins small ; the second dorsal 



and anal near the caudal ; both lobes of the caudal 

 large, the upper one not much longer than the lower, 

 and margined on the posterior edge near the lip; 

 and the teeth much more of a prehensile and swal- 

 lowing character than of a tearing one ; they have 

 large triangular points, with a small lateral tubercle 

 at each side of the base. They are known onlv, or 

 chiefly, in the European seas, and not in the tropical 

 ones, like the true sharks. They are not so formidable 

 as these, but still they are ravenous fishes, swimming 

 with much velocity, and growing to a large size. 



The Porbeagle (L. Cornubica'). The common name 

 of this fish appears to be compounded of Poresse and 

 Beagle the former from its bearing a slight resem- 

 blance in shape to that well-known member of the 

 cetacea, and the latter from the fact of these rishes 

 being often found hunting their prey in packs. It is 

 called Cornubica, from having first been correctly 

 described from specimens taken on the coast of 

 Cornwall. As a British fish, it is not, however, con- 

 fined to the Cornish coast, but is fully as common on 

 the northern shores as the southern. They are very 

 discursive fishes, and, as they do not come into shal- 

 low water, they are seldom seen in proportion to 

 their numbers. 



The body is spindle-shaped, thick and round at 

 the middle part, pointed in the snout, and tapering 

 very much to the tail, where there is a lateral keel 

 on each side advancing to some distance forward on 

 the body ; the head is furnished with numerous 

 pores, which give out a gelatinous secretion for 

 lubricating the skin ; backwards the skin feels quite 

 smooth, but forwards it is rough to the touch ; 

 colour blackish grey above, on the under part white ; 

 the pectoral fins moderately large, slightly fulcate, 

 and of a black colour ; the first dorsal high, broadly 

 lancet-shaped, with a low prolongation backwards ; 

 the second dorsal nearly the same shape, but very 

 small, and near the caudal ; the ventrals very short, 

 inclined backwards, and terminated in a straight 

 line parallel to that of the body ; the anal fin, under 

 the second dorsal, very small and rounded ; the 

 caudal partially crescent-shaped ; both lobes lonsr, 

 but the upper the longest ; lateral line straight, and 

 on the middle of the side ; the gill-openings five in 

 number, the last beginning at the anterior base of 

 the pectoral fin, and bearing obliquely backwards ; 

 the eyes round, and deep blue ; there are three rows 

 of teeth in the mature state, but the fish grows 

 rapidly, and thus is often found of considerable size 

 with only two. The porbeagle is found chieHy in 

 the currents near rocky places, and feeds on fishes of 

 considerable size, swallowing entire those which 

 measure as much as two feet in length. 



Beaumnris Shark (L. Monensis}. This is known 

 only as a British, or rather as a Welch fish, and only 

 two specimens have been met with, both of which 

 are described by Pennant. They were both found 

 at the same place, the Anglesey side of the Menai 

 Strait. The snout is blunter than that of the por- 

 beagle, and the pectoral and first dorsal still farther 

 backwards, and more fulcate ; the ventrals larger 

 than in the others, and the second dorsal and anal 

 rhornboidal ; the tail more completely crescent- 

 shaped ; the lobes more tapering, the upper one 

 larger in proportion, and more of the posterior edge 

 margined toward the tip ; the skin is nearly smooth, 

 and lead-coloured. The habits of this species are of 

 course altogether unknown. 



