72 



formed by the Moundbuilders, though common as Indian 

 refuse heaps, and the fact that large pieces of mica had 

 been found in Indian graves here in Massachusetts proved 

 that the Indians as well as the Moundbuilders placed a 

 special value on that substance. 



Mr. PUTNAM also exhibited a large tooth of a shark, 

 presented by Rev. D. P. Noyes of Pigeon Cove, who ob- 

 tained it from Mr. Andrew Johnson, one of two men who, 

 while in a dory deeply laden with fish, near St. Peter's 

 Bank, had been fiercely attacked by a large shark, which 

 bit at the dory, leaving the marks of one jaw on the 

 bottom of the boat and of the other on the side. The 

 boat was tipped by the shark to such an extent as to spill 

 part of the fish and take in water, and was kept afloat 

 only by vigorous bailing. The fragments of several 

 teeth were found in the wood. The perfect specimen 

 was from the front of the under jaw, and was 1-8 

 inches in length from the centre of its root to its point, 

 and from the extreme end of its root, 2-1. Its extreme 

 width at base, across the root, was 1-5 inches. On com- 

 parison with specimens of large sharks in the Museum of 

 Comparative Zoology, made by Mr. Garman, it was esti- 

 mated that a tooth of this size would indicate a total 

 length for the animal of more than thirteen feet. Judg- 

 ing from the single tooth, the shark was probably a speci- 

 men of the Oarcharias (Prionodon) lamia, or a closely 

 allied species, and is a very interesting addition to the 

 fauna of our eastern coast. 



