THE WHITE SHARK, OR LAMIA. 209 



THE prettily marked and curiously toothed SMOOTH HOUND is also known under the 

 titles of SKATE-TOOTHED SHAKE and RAY-TOOTHED DOG, the two latter titles being 

 appropriately given it on account of its curious and beautifully formed teeth, which 

 resemble in form the cylinders of a crushing mill, and are used for a similar purpose. 



The jaws, instead of being studded with rows of sharp and knife-like teeth, are supplied 

 with two rounded projections on which the flat-topped teeth are set closely together like 

 the stones of a mosaic, and which are so formed that they roll over each other as the 

 jaws are closed, producing a crushing effect of enormous power. These curious teeth are 

 rendered needful by the food on which the Smooth Hound lives, namely the hard-shelled 

 crustaceans, whose armour of proof is nevertheless soon comminuted under the bony 

 rollers. 



As may be inferred from the character of its food, the Smooth Hound is not destructive 

 to the fisheries, and may be allowed to live in harmless security. Its flesh is said to be 

 tolerably well-flavoured, and even moderately tender. It produces its young in a living 

 state, but is not very prolific, the number at a birth rarely exceeding ten or twelve. 

 Almost as soon as born they retire into deep water, so that though a tolerably plentiful 

 species, it is not seen so often as those which live in shallow waters. 



The colour of the Smooth Hound is pearly grey, and above the lateral line, which in 

 this species is very strongly marked, the body is decorated with small round white spots, 

 very conspicuous while the creature is young, but becoming fainter when it attains 

 maturity. The under parts are whitish yellow. 



BEFOEE noticing some of the larger and more terrible species, we must not omit the 

 POEBEAGLE, sometimes called the BEAUMAEIS SHAEK (Istirus cornubicus), a fish of a 

 wonderfully mild aspect for a Shark, and notable for a very porpoise-like aspect. The 

 name of Porbeagle is in fact owing to this resemblance. This species feeds on fish of 

 various kinds, three full-grown hakes having been found in the stomach of one individual, 

 and derives some of its subsistence from the larger molluscs. It attains a rather large 

 size, five or six feet being a common length. Its colour is uniform greyish black above, 

 and white below. 



THE dreadful WHITE SHAKK, the finny pirate of the ocean, is happily almost a stranger 

 to our shores, though a stray specimen may now and then visit the British Islands, there 

 to find but scant hospitality. 



This is one of the large species that range the ocean, and in some seas are so numerous 

 that they are the terror of sailors and natives. One individual, whose jaws are still 

 preserved, was said to have measured thirty-seven feet in length, and when we take into 

 consideration the many instances where the leg of a man has been bitten off through flesh 

 and bone as easily as if it had been a carrot, and even the body of a boy or woman 

 severed at a single bite, this great length will not seem to be exaggerated. 



Many portions of this fish are used in commerce. The sailors are fond of cleaning 

 and preparing the skull, which, when brought to England, is sure of a ready sale, either for 

 a public museum, or to private individuals who are struck with its strange form and 

 terrible armature. The spine, too, is frequently taken from this fish, and when dried, it 

 passes into the hands of walking-stick makers, who polish it neatly, fit it with a gold 

 handle, and sell it at a very high price. One of these sticks will sometimes fetch six or 

 seven pounds. There is also a large amount of oil in the Shark, which is thought rather 

 valuable, so that in Ceylon and other places a regular trade in this commodity is 

 carried on. 



The fins are very rich in gelatine, and in China are, as is said, employed largely in the 

 manufacture of that gelatinous soup in which the soul of a Chinese epicure delights, and 

 of which the turtle soup of our metropolis is thought by Chinese judges to be a faint 

 penumbra or distant imitation. The flesh is eaten by the natives of many Pacific islands ; 

 and in some places the liver is looked upon as a royal luxury, being hung on boards in 

 the sun until all the contained oil has drained away, and then carefully wrapped up in 

 leaves and reserved as a delicacy. 



