142 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 
the head to first dorsal fin, brown with reddish spots.’ The head is repre- 
sented as truncated in front. 
“The dried dentigerous band of the upper jaw is slightly curved forwards, 
about nineteen inches between the extremities, and somewhat more than an 
inch in width in front. The teeth are fixed and extremely minute, the largest 
being little more than a line in length, and decrease towards the ends of the 
jaw; they are disposed in regularly transverse rows, of which there are over 
one hundred and sixty (164-167) on each side, while in front there are from 
thirteen to sixteen in each transverse row; each tooth is recurved backwards 
and acutely pointed, swollen and with a heel-like projection in front rising 
from its base. 
“This type will be seen, therefore, to be very distinct, but is evidently 
related to the South African genus Rhinodon, and must be referred to the 
family of Rhinodontide with the name of Micristodus punctatus.” 
In 1868, Dr. Percival Wright, on a visit to Mr. Swinburn Ward, 
Civil Commissioner of the Seychelles, met with this shark, which is 
not rare in this archipelago. Dr. Wright saw specimens exceeding 
fifty feet in length and one actually measured by Mr. Ward was 
more than forty-five feet long. It is not at all rare around the 
Seychelles, but is seldom recorded owing to its huge size and dif- 
ficulties attending its capture. In 1878 a specimen was captured at 
Callao, Peru. Prof. W. Nation examined this specimen and a por- 
tion of the dental plate was sent to the British Museum. In 1883 
this shark was obtained on the west coast of Ceylon, the specimen 
being a female, 23 ft. 9 in. long. This was reported upon by Mr. 
A. Haly, Director of the Colombo Museum. We next quote from 
the voyage of the Italian Corvette, Vettor Pisani, by G. Chierchia : 
“While fishing for a big shark in the Gulf of Panama during the stay of 
our ship in Taboga Island, one day in February (1883?), with a dead calm, 
we saw several great sharks some miles from our anchorage. In a short 
time several boats with natives went to sea, accompanied by two of the Vettor 
Pisani’s boats. 
“Having wounded one of these animals in the lateral part of the belly, we 
held him with lines fixed to the spears; he then began to describe a very 
narrow curve, and irritated by the cries of the people that were in the boats, 
ran off with a moderate velocity. To the first boat, which held the lines just 
mentioned, the other boats were fastened, and it was a rather strange emotion 
to feel ourselves towed by the monster for more than three hours with a 
velocity that proved to be two miles per hour. One of the boats was filled 
with water. At last the animal was tired by the great loss of blood, and 
the boats assembled to haul in the lines and tow the shark on shore. 
“With much difficulty the nine boats towed the animal alongside the Vettor 
Pisani to have him hoisted on board, but it was impossible on account of his 
colossal dimensions. But, as it was high water, we went towards a sand 
beach with the animal, and we had him safely stranded at night. 
“With much care were inspected the mouth, the nostrils, the ears, and all 
