Sept. 1857, THE AECTIC SHARK. 53 



has very recently been ascertained that a valu- 

 able substance resembling spermaceti may be 

 expressed from the carcase, and for this pur- 

 pose powerful screw presses are now employed. 

 In early winter the sharks are caught with hook 

 and line through holes in the ice. 



The Esquimaux assert that they are insensible 

 to pain ; and Petersen assures me he has 

 plunged a long knife several times into the head 

 of one whilst it continued to feed upon a white 

 whale entangled in his net ! ! It is not sufficient 

 to drive them away with sundry thrusts of 

 spears or knives, but they must be towed away 

 to some distance from the nets, otherwise they 

 will return to feed. It must be remembered 

 that the brain of a shark is extremely small in 

 proportion to the size of its huge head. I have 

 seen bullets fired through them with very little 

 apparent effect ; but if these creatures can feel, 

 the devices practised upon them by the Esqui- 

 maux must be cruel indeed. 



It is only in certain localities that sharks are 

 found, and in these places they are often at- 

 tracted to the nets by the animals entangled in 

 them. The dogs are not suffered to eat either 

 the skin or the head, the former in consequence 

 of its extreme roughness, and the latter because 

 it causes giddiness and makes them sick. 



