THE SHARK. 



209 



spinous fishes have not, or at least appear not 

 to have, externally any instruments of gener- 

 ation. It is very different with those of the 

 cartilaginous kind, for the male always has 

 these instruments double. The fish of this 

 tribe are not unfrequently seen to copulate ; 

 and their manner is belly to belly, such as 

 may naturally be expected from animals whose 

 parts of ge'neration are placed forward. They 

 in general choose colder seasons and situations 

 than other fish for propagating their kind ; 

 and many of them bring forth in the midst of 

 winter. 



The same duplicity of character which 

 marks their general conformation, obtains also 

 with regard to their manner of bringing forth. 

 Some bring forth their young alive ; and some 

 bring forth eggs, which are afterwards brought 

 to maturity. In all, however, the manner of 

 gestation is nearly the same ; for upon dissec- 

 tion, it is ever found, that the young, while 

 in the body, continue in the egg till a very 

 little time before they are excluded : these 

 eggs they may properly be said to hatch 

 within their body ; and as soon as their young 

 quit the shell, they begin to quit the womb 

 also. Unlike to quadrupeds, or the cetaceous 

 tribes, that quit the egg state in a few days 

 after theii first conception, and continue in 

 the womb several months after, these continue 

 in the body of the female, in their egg state, 

 for weeks together ; and the eggs are found 

 linked together by a membrane, from which, 

 when the foetus gets free, it continues but a 

 very short time till it delivers itself from its 

 confinement in the womb. The eggs them- 

 selves consist of a white and a yolk, and have 

 a substance instead of shell, that aptly may 

 be compared to softened horn. These, as I 

 observed, are sometimes hatched in the womb, 

 as in the shark and ray kinds ; and they are 

 sometimes excluded, as in the sturgeon, before 

 the animal comes to its time of disengag- 

 ing. Thus we see that there seems very little 

 difference between the viviparous and the 

 oviparous kinds, in this class of fishes : the 

 one hatch their eggs in the womb, and the 

 young continue no long time there ; the others 

 exclude their eggs before hatching, and leave 

 it to time and accident to bring their young 

 to maturity. 



Such are the peculiar marks of the cartila 

 ginous class of fishes, of which there are many 

 kinds. To give a distinct description of every 

 fish is as little my intention, as perhaps it is 

 the wish of the reader ; but the peculiarities 

 of each kind deserve notice, and the most 

 striking of these it would be unpardonable to 

 omit. 



Cartilaginous fish may be divided first into 

 those of the shark kind, with a body growing 

 less towards the tail, a rough skin, with the 



mouth placed far beneath the end of the nose, 

 five apertures on the sides of the neck for 

 breathing, and the upper part of the tail longer 

 than the lower. This class chiefly compre- 

 hends the Great White Shark, the Balance 

 Fish, the Hound Fish, the Monk Fish, the 

 Dog Fish, the Basking Shark, the Zygaena, 

 the Tope, the Cat Fish, the Blue Shark-, the 

 Sea Fox, the Smooth Hound Fish, and the 

 Porbeagle. These are all of the same nature, 

 and differ more in size, than in figure or con- 

 formation. 



The next division is that of flat fish ; and 

 these their broad, flat, thin shape, is suffi- 

 ciently capable of distinguishing from all 

 others of this kind. They may be easily dis- 

 tinguished also from spinous flat fish, by the 

 holes through which they breathe, which are 

 uncovered by a bone ; and which, in this kind, 

 are five on each side. In this tribe we may 

 place the Torpedo, the Skate, ttie Sharp-nosed 

 Ray, the Rough Ray, the Thornback, and 

 the Fire Flare. 



The third division is that of the slender 

 snake-shaped kind ; such as the Lamprey, the 

 Pride, and the Pipe-fish. 



The fourth division is that of the Sturgeon 

 and its variety, the Ising-glass Fish. 



The last division may comprise fish of dif- 

 ferent figures and natures, that do not rank 

 under the former divisions. These are the 

 Sun-Fish, the Tetrodon, the Lump Fish, the 

 Sea Snail, the Chimaera, and the Fishing 

 Frog. Each of these has somewhat peculiar 

 in its powers or its forms, that deserves to be 

 remarked. The description of the figures ol 

 these at least may compensate for our general 

 ignorance of the rest of their history. 



CHAP II. 



OF CARTILAGINOUS FISHES OF THE SHARK 

 KIND. 1 



OF all the inhabitants of the deep, those of 

 the shark kind are the fiercest and the most 



1 About thirty species of sharks have been distin- 

 guished, of which twelve have been seen on the British 

 coasts. Some, from pursuing their prey in concert, are 

 called sea-dogs, hounds, and beagles. We may here 

 particularize the Blue Shark, the Basking Shark, and 

 the Angel Shark. 



The Blue Shark. The back of this shark is blue ; 

 the belly white. No orifices are to be seen behind the 

 eye, as is usual with fish of this genus. Two white 

 membranes, one to each eye, perform the office of eye- 

 lids. When the head was placed downwards, a pretty 

 large white pouch came out of its mouth. ^Elian sup- 

 posed this to serve as an asylum for the young in time 

 of danger; and Mr Pennant, who gives credit to tho 

 story, thinks that this fish> like the opossum, may have 



