OF THE UNITED STATES 73 



at once, upon peering into its depths, I became convinced that an 

 enormous brown fish was coming gradually to the surface. As 

 the villain neared it, he became more active, but what fixed my 

 attention most of all, was the curious form of its head. On either 

 side it was produced lateral-wise, the extremity being occupied 

 by the eye. These were large and were rolled about in their sock- 

 ets in the most horrid manner. It was a specimen of the dreaded 

 Hammerhead shark (Zygcena malleus), and must have been at 

 least between eight and nine feet long, or even longer. This is 

 a very dangerous species, no less so, indeed, than the white and 

 the blue sharks. It is found all along the coast from Cape Cod 

 to Cape Sable, and to the southward. They are also of the man- 

 eating variety, and specimens have been captured in the stom- 

 achs of which portions of human bodies and plenty of clothing 

 and other objects have been found. There are between twenty 



Fig. 12. Hammerhead Shark i Zygcena malleus). 



and thirty species of sharks and dogfishes found upon the Pacific 

 coast, and many of these have been described by Jordan in his 

 very useful works upon American fishes. The Thrasher and the 

 Mackerel sharks occur upon both of our coasts, and each is a 

 very distinguished species. Oil in considerable quantities is pro- 

 cured from the livers of the latter, while of the former Doctor 

 Goode says that it is known " in Europe as the Fox shark, and to 

 our fishermen most usually as the Swingle-tail. It is one of the 

 most grotesque of sea animals, the upper lobe of the tail being 

 exceedingly long, curving upward and resembling in form the 

 blade of a scythe." Thrashers grow to become fifteen feet or 

 more in length, and weigh several hundred pounds. Stories 

 about their attacking whales, however, have no foundation in 

 fact. Fishermen say they kill fish by blows of their powerful 



