12 Mindeskrift for J. Steenstrup. XXX. 



Umanak Fjord in 1908 I was informed that a chalk-white Greenland shark had been 

 caught in the previous year. 



Regarding the reproduction of the Greenland shark we still know nothing beyond 

 that numerous, soft, shell-less eggs (ovarial eggs) have been found in large females, in 

 size up to that of a hen's egg (but spherical), but whether these are later "spawned" 

 or develop to embryos in the mother, is still uncertain^). 



The principal product of the Greenland shark is the oil extracted from the liver, 

 Self-running oiP) is light and clear and readily runs up the wick; it is used in Greenland 

 as lamp oil, as petroleum is not permitted in the houses owing to the danger of fire. In 

 North Greenland especially shark oil is the ordinary means of illumination among the 

 Dånes, in South Greenland seal oil is also used^). By far the greater part of the shark 

 oil is exported ; it is mixed with seal oil to form a specific Greenlandic sort of oil known 

 on the market under the name of "Trekronetran". The Greenland Administration pay 

 the natives 3 Øre per pound for shark liver against 4 Øre per pound of seal blubber, 

 though a barrel of shark liver on burning gives only 57 pots of oil, whilst a barrel of blub- 

 ber gives 98 pots, of an even more valuable sort*). 



In North Greenland, where the dog plays such a large part as draught animal for 

 the sledge, the shark fishery has the additional importance of providing food for the 

 dogs. In the dried condition especially shark flesh is an excellent dog food, it gives 

 the animals strength to sustain prolonged exertions without being fatigued. In the 

 fresh condition, on the other hånd, it is dangerous for the dogs; when they eat a 

 quantity of it they become heavy and subject to giddiness (they are said to be "shark- 

 intoxicated") ; on driving a short distance with them they begin to hang their ears, tumble 

 from side to side and at last fall down in cramp-convulsions, after which they cannot 

 be got to move from the spot ; in a couple of minutes the dog may recover, but when 

 it runs again, the whole body quivers and the dog has no power to drag; at the same 

 time, especially when the weather is warm, the animal has diarhoea, its fæces are 

 "squirted out" as greenish water; sometimes the animal dies of the sickness. At 

 piaces where shark food is plentiful, however, the dogs accustom themselves to eating 

 a large amount of it without being sick ; but if they are driven in the warm sunshine 



^) Cf. H. F. E. Jungersen: On the Appendices Genitales in the Greenland Shark and other 

 Selachians, pp. 2 & 3; The Danish Ingolf-Expedition, II, 2, 1899. 



^) "Self-running" shark oil is obtained as follows ; the frozen shark liver is beaten with a 

 hammer to a mash, which is placed in a tub and when the weather becomes mild the oil runs 

 out of itself. 



*) The natives prefer seal oil in their lamps, which as is well-known serve not only for lighting 

 purposes, but also for warming the houses; but in the absence of seal blubber they use shark oil. 



*) It is maintained as a leading principle for the monopoly-trade of the Danish State in Green- 

 land, that the Greenland products that are of special use for the natives are bought at relatively 

 low prices, not to lead the inhabitants to dispose of that which is necessary to support life, and 

 here among other things seal-blubber is reckoned. 



