

ICHTHYOLOGY. 10 



Q. What is particular to the Basking and Ham- 

 mer-headed Sharks ? 



A. Squalus Maximus, or the Basking Shark, is 

 as large as the white shark, but of very different 

 habits, it being as gentle as the other is ferocious. 

 It feeds on sea plants, and is caught for the sake 

 of its liver, which yields a considerable quantity of 

 oil. The Hammer- headed Shark, or Squalus Zy- 

 gaena, is so denominated from the remarkable 

 shape of its head, which is dilated on each side ; 

 the eyes, which are very large, being at the ex- 

 tremities. It is an extremely voracious fish, and 

 will attack men. 



Q. What may be observed of the Pristis ? 



A. Squalus Pristis, or the Saw Fish, is a large 

 species of shark, the head slightly flattened, and 

 produced in front into a very long, flat, straight, 



she coveted, the inhuman captain ordered her to be let 

 down into the sea by ropes ; no sooner was this done, and 

 her head only above water, than she uttered a fearful 

 scream, and the sea around appeared crimsoned with her 

 blood. On hastily drawing her up, it was found that a 

 shark had bitten off the whole lower part of her body 

 from the waist. Numerous anecdotes of this kind might 

 be brought to illustrate the rapacity of this formidable 

 animal, would our limits allow. 



Dila'ted, part, widened, flattened. 



Produced, part, a ten: in mathematics, signifying 

 lengthened or drawn out. 



