ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



SAMPLES OF LEATHER MADE FROM SHARK SKIN~ 



Showing plain and shrunken grain leathers 



Courtesy Ocean Leather Co 



hi secure approximately 200.000 pounds of this 

 material daily, or 75,000.000 pounds annually: 



"Assuming that the market price could be 

 set at ten cents it shows that at the present time 

 we are wasting a food product with a value of 

 •+7.300.000. The edible portion of the shark 

 consists of about fifty per cent, of the weight of 

 the body and resembles in its texture and flavor 

 either the halibut or sword fish. In some mar- 

 kets this product is now being sold under the 

 name of deep sea sword fish and a certain 

 species of shark known as dog fish is being 

 canned and labelled grey fish. Cooking experi- 

 ments have shown the food to be very palatable 

 and nourishing."* 



There was a time when our now valuable 

 sturgeon was regarded as utterly worthless and 

 was thrown on the beaches of the Great Lakes 

 simply to get its troublesome bulk out of the 

 nets. The shark has enjoyed immunity long 

 enougli and must be put to use. 



We know that in the Carolines and other 

 Equatorial atolls of the Pacific, shark catching 

 means money making. Sharks visit these islands 

 at times in great schools and the natives sell 



'Science, Oct. 31, 1919. 



their dried fins by the boat load to trading 

 vessels, for use in China as food. 



A score of canoes fishing together will some- 

 times take a shark too big to be handled. In 

 this case he is turned loose with a large wooden 

 float, to tire himself until he becomes manage- 

 able. 



Sharks are more abundant among the Pacific 

 islands and in Australian waters than elsewhere 

 and there is little doubt that the time is ap- 

 proaching when they will be utilized for many 

 purposes. 



THE AQUARIUM. 



Serene the silver fishes glide, 

 Stern-lipped, and pale, and wonder-eyed; 

 As tlirough the aged depths of ocean, 

 They glide with wan and wavy motion. 

 They have no pathway where they go, 

 They flow like water to and fro. 

 They watch with never winking eyes, 

 They watch with staring, cold surprise. 

 The level people in the air, 

 The people peering, peering there, 

 Who wander also to and fro, 

 And know not why or where they go, 

 Yet have a wonder in their eyes, 

 Sometimes a pale and cold surprise. 



— Eastman-. 



