48 The Natural History of the Mahseer. CHAP. in. 



and my own opinion is that Mahseer do not shed their teeth. Still I 

 am open to conviction, and there the question is for enquiring anglers 

 to investigate, Do Mahseer shed their pharyngeal teeth annually as a stag 

 sheds his horns, and if they do, when do they shed them, and how long 

 are the new teeth in coming on, and what is the food, if any, during the 

 toothless period ? 



The Mahseer has also great power of jaw by means of which it is 

 able at a blow to stun a live fish, and to make up by compression for 

 the absence of the teeth usually found in the mouth of predacious fish. 

 That it makes other use of it also to the detriment of the angler will be 

 found in the next chapter. 



