1915] Gudger: The Whale Shark. 355 



and 123. Back of the spiracle lie the enormous gill-slits which 

 are also shown most plainly in Figure 122. 



Figure 123 is made from a photograph of the mounted skin, 

 and it shows how well Mr. Warmbath has done his work. Com- 

 pared with Figures 120 and 121 made from photographs of the 

 shark in the fresh condition, it would seem that the spots are too 

 large. On the skin when seen by me in late July, 1912, the spots 

 seemed about the size of a silver dollar, and were even then fad- 

 ing markedly. 



It is a source of keen regret that I have not been able to 

 examine this mounted specimen. A trip was contemplated to 

 Atlantic City for this purpose, when it was learned that the 

 specimen was in the Middle West. At last accounts it was on 

 exhibition in Chicago. 



Historical. 



On a morning in April, 1828, some fishermen in Table Bay, 

 Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, saw swimming leisurely 

 around with its dorsal fin above water a large shark of unusual 

 coloration. This was easily secured with the harpoon, since it 

 offered comparatively little resistance, and was brought to shore 

 where, fortunately for science, it fell in the hands of Dr. Andrew 

 Smith, surgeon to the troops stationed in South Africa. Thus 

 there came to the knowledge of the world the largest and in 

 many ways the most interesting of the shark tribe. 



During the following year (1829), Smith named his shark 

 Rhincodon typus (evidently a misprint for Rhineodon as will 

 be shown later), and gave a preliminary description of it as 

 follows : 



"Teeth slender, short, gently curved, so disposed in longi- 

 tudinal rows that they have the form of a band in the front part 

 of the maxilla and likewise in the similar part of the mandible ; 

 head wide, depressed, squarish, mouth at front of and almost 

 as wide as the head; sides with longitudinal ridges and a very 

 distinct keel on each side of the tail; a spiracle just behind each 

 eye; anal fin almost opposite the second dorsal fin. 



"Above, greenish-gray, with spots and numerous white lines ; 

 beneath, reddish-white, changing to red; with a dorsal keel be- 

 fore its anterior dorsal fin ; behind, round, thence flat. 



