418 PEOSB HALIEUTICS. 



distingtiished but not discriminated by the ancients with 

 sufficient precision for us to be able at present to iden- 

 tify thenij we come to two squally the portraits of whichj 

 like that of the canicula, have been so well deUneated by 

 them^ as to render the recognition of the originals per- 

 fectly easy, and exempt from any possibility of mistake. 

 One of these is the saw-fish of modern writers, described 

 by Aristotle under the name of ' pristis/ and by PHny 

 under the Laiin synonym serra. The saw, or rake, of 

 this shark is at first a supple cartUagiaous body, porrect 

 from the eyes, and extending sometimes fifteen feet be- 

 yond them. In the earlier stages of development it is 

 protected iu a leathery sheath, but, hardening gradually 

 as the ossific deposition proceeds, its toothed sides at 

 lengA pierce the tough integument ; the serra then flings 

 away the scabbard, and becoming, after a very little 

 practice, a perfect proficient in the use of his weapon, 

 is always ready for instant assault upon any body or 

 thing that may or may not offer to molest him. Thus 

 formidably armed, and nothing daunted, the larger and 

 fiercer the adversary, the more ardently does the serra 

 desire to join battle ; above all, the destruction of the 

 whale seems most to occupy his thoughts and to stiniii- 

 late his valour and vindictiveness ; no sooner is one of 

 these nnwieldy monsters descried rolling through the 

 billows, than our expert sabreur rushes to the conflict, 

 and, carefully avoiding the sweep of his opponent's tre- 

 mendous tail, soon effects his purpose, by stabbing the 

 luckless leviathan at all points, till, drained of blood, he 

 dies at last, Hke Seneca, ansemic, in the bath. Martyns 

 relates a rencontre of this kind which he vntnessed off 

 the Shetland Isles, but at a distance, not daring to ap- 

 proach the spot, as the factitious rain, spouted up from 

 the vents of the enraged sea mammal, poured down again 

 over the liquid battle-field in torrents sufficient to have 

 swamped a boat. He watched them a long time as they 



