60 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Formidable teeth Malignant aspect. 



part of its composition ; they consist of six rows, 

 amounting to one hundred and forty-four in 

 number, hard, sharp-pointed, and wedge-like in 

 their form ; and the creature is possessed of the 

 singular power of erecting or depressing them at 

 pleasure. They lie flat in his mouth when at 

 rest, but by the help of a set of muscles he is 

 enabled to erect them when he wishes to seize 

 his prey; on which he can inflict at once an hun- 

 dred wounds. 



The aspect of the shark is peculiarly expres- 

 sive of the malignity of his character; he is 

 dreaded by the lesser tribes, and is scarcely less 

 obnoxious to those apparently more powerful ; 

 for he surpasses the whale in strength and cele- 

 rity not more than he exceeds all the rest in his 

 insatiable appetites. His (ins are larger in pro- 

 portion than those of most fish ; and his skin is 

 rough, hard, and prickly, and of which shagreen 

 is made for covering instrument cases, &c. His 

 powers of destruction are only counterbalanced 

 by the difliculty he meets with in seizing his 

 prey; for his upper jaw projects so far over the 

 lower, that he is obliged to turn on one side in 

 order to accomplish his purpose; and thus afford 

 his affrighted virtims the only probability of 

 escape. The flesh is tough, coarse, and of such 

 a disagreeable smell, that even the young are 

 scarcely eatable. The body emits a phosphoric 

 light in the dark. The liver affords a few quarts 

 of oil. 



