Class IV. BASKING SHARK. \3l 



between these fins is situated the pudendum 

 of the female. The tail is very large, and the 

 upper part remarkably longer than the lower. 

 The upper part of the body is of a deep leaden 

 color ; the belly white ; the skin is rough, like 

 shagreen, but less so on the belly than the 

 back. Within the mouth, towards the throat, 

 is a very short sort of whalebone. 



The liver is of a great size, but that of the 

 female the largest; some weighed above a 

 thousand pounds, and yielded a great quantity 

 of pure and sweet oil, * fit for lamps, and also Oil. 

 much used by the people who took them, to 

 cure bruises, burns, and rheumatic complaints. 

 A large fish has afforded to the captors a profit 

 of twenty pounds. They are viviparous, a 

 young one about a foot in length being found 

 in the belly of a fish of this kind. 



The measurements of one, I found dead on 

 the shore of Loch Ranza in the isle of Arran, 

 were as follow. The whole length twenty- 

 seven feet, four inches : the first dorsal fin, 

 three feet; the second, one foot; the pecto- 

 ral fin, four feet; the ventral, two feet; the 



* In I76O, one was caught off the coast of Anglesey, which 

 measured twenty-six feet, and produced one hundred and fifty 

 gallons of oil. Ed. 



