S H A 



S H A 



This fpecies has been long known to the inhabitants of the 

 fouth and weft of Ireland and Scotland, and thofe of Caer- 

 narvonfhire and Anglefea ; they quit the bays of thefe 

 Welih counties about Michaelmas, and the frith of Clyde, 

 and the Hebrides, about the latter end of July. They have 

 nothing of the fierce and voracious nature of the (hark 

 kind, but are fo tame as to fuffer themfelves to be ftroked ; 

 lying motionlefs on the furface of the water, commonly on 

 their bellies, but fometimes on their backs, as if to fun 

 themfelves ; whence they are called bafliing Iharks. Their 

 food feems to confift entirely of fea-plants. Linnseus lays 

 they feed on medufa;. At certain times they are feen fport- 

 ing on the waves, and leaping with great agihty feveral feet 

 out of the water ; they Iwim deliberately, with the dorfal 

 fins above water ; their length is from three to twelve yards, 

 and they are fometimes longer ; their form is flender ; the 

 upper jaw much longer than the lower, and blunt at the 

 end ; the mouth placed beneath, and each jaw furnifhed 

 with numbers of fm all teeth ; thofe before being much bent, 

 and thofe more remote in the jaws being conic, and fharp- 

 pointed ; on the fides of the neck there are five large 

 tranfverfe apertures to the gills ; on the back two fins ; the 

 firll very large, nearer the head than the middle ; the other 

 fmall, and fituated near the tail ; on the lower part there are 

 five others ; tvz. two peftoral fins, two ventral fins, and a 

 fmall anal fin ; near thefe, tiie male has two genitals, as in 

 other (harks ; and between thefe fins was fituated the 

 pudendum of the female ; the tail very large, having the 

 upper part much longer than the lower ; the colour of the 

 upper part of tlie body a deep leaden, and the belly white ; 

 the (kin rough, like (liagreen, but lefs fo on the belly than 

 on the back ; withinfide the mouth, towards the throat, 

 was a very (hort fort of whalebone ; the liver is of a great 

 fize, that of the female being the largell, and is melted into 

 a pure and fweet oil, fit for lamps, and much ufed by the 

 people, who take it to cure bruifes, burns, and rheumatic 

 complaints. A large fi(h will yield eight barrels of oil. 

 Thefe fi(hes are viviparous, a young one, a foot in length, 

 having been found in the belly of one of them. When 

 they are (Iruck with a harpoon, and wounded, they fling 

 up their tails, and plunge headlong to the bottom, coiling 

 the rope round them, and attempting to dilengage them- 

 felves from the harpoon, by rolling on the ground. They 

 fwim away with (tich rapidity and violence, that there has 

 been an inftance of a vetlel of fcventy tons having been 

 towed away againft a fre(h gale ; and they will employ the 

 filhers for twelve, and fometimes twenty-four liours, be- 

 fore they are fubdued. Pennant's Britilh Zoology, vol. iii. 

 p. loi, &c. 



Shark, Hummer-headeJ, Squalus zyg<!na, a fifh of the 

 (hark kind, called alfo the lalance-fjh. 



It is an extremely Angular and remirkablc fi(h, and diflFers 

 not only from all the other iharks, but from all the fifh in 

 the world, in the figure of its head : this is not placed, as 

 in all other filhes, longitudinally, or in a line with the body, 

 but is fet on traiifverfely, as the head of a hammer or mallet 

 upon the handle. This is femicircular at the front, and 

 runs to fo thin and (harp an edge, that as the fi(h fwims for- 

 ward with violence, it may cut other filhes, and is terminated 

 at each end by an eye ; thefe are very large, and fo placed, 

 that they more conveniently look down than either upward 

 or fideway. In the farther part of the forehead alfo, near 

 the eves, on each fide, there is a large oblong foramen, 

 ferving either for hearing or fmelling, or perhaps for both ; 

 the mouth is very large, and placed under the head, and 

 armed with four rows of extremely (harp and llrong teeth, 

 flat, and ferrated at their edges ; the tail is compofed of 



two fins, one vaftly larger than the other ; the body is 

 rounded and very long, and is not covered with fcales, but 

 a thick fKin ; the back is alb-coloured, and the belly white. 

 Rondelet. de Aquat. p. 549. 



It is caught in the Mediterranean, and fometimes in dif- 

 ferent parts of tlic ocean. Some authors have called it 

 ■^y^xna, and others libella ; which lall anfwers to the Englilh 

 name of the balance-JiJJ}. 



Shark, Picked. See Acanthias and Squalu6. 



Shark, Long-tailed. See Sea-Yo\ and ScjUALus 

 Vulpa. 



Shark, Spotted, Squalus Canicula of Linnatus. See 

 StiUALL'ft Catulus. 



Shark, I-e/fer /potted, called the morgay, or rough 

 hound-jij}}, Squalus Calulus of Linnasus. See Squalls Ca- 

 tulus. 



Sjiakk, Smooth, Squalus Mujlelus of Liniiseus. Sec 

 Squalus Mujlelus. 



Shark, called the tope, Squalus Galcus of Linnxus. See 

 Squalls Galeus. 



Shark, called the angel or monk-jijh, Squalus Squatina of 

 Linnseus. See Squalu.s Squatina. 



Shark River, in Geography, a river of New Jerfey, 

 which runs into the Atlantic, N. lat. 40° 10'. W. long. 



74° 4'- 



SHARKIND, a town of Sweden, in Eaft Gothland; 

 9 miles S.S.W of Nordkioping. 



SHARKSTOWN, a town of Maryland, on the ifland 

 of Kent ; 28 miles S.E. of Baltimore. 



SHARM el Kiman, or Sharm el Kaman, a port on the 

 Red fea, on the coaft of Egypt. N. lat. 24° 44'. 



SHARM A, a town of Arabia, in the province of Hadra- 

 maut ; 30 miles E.N.E. of Sahar. 



SHARMAGOL, a town of Perfia, in the province of 

 Chorafan ; 12 miles S. of Nefa. 



SHARMAK, a fea-port of Africa, on the Gold Coatt ; 

 13 miles W. of Commendo. 



SHARMALIK, a town of Afiatic Turkey, in the 

 province of Diarbekir ; i j miles S.W. of Ourfa. 



SHAROKIE. See ScHON. 



SHARON, a town of the province of Maine ; 40 miles 

 N. of Portland — Alfo, a town of Connefticut ; 12 miles 

 N.W. of Litchfield. — Alfo, a poft-town of the (late of 

 New York ; 2J miles W. of Albany. — Alfo, a townlhip 

 of Maflachufetts ; 10 miles S.W. of Boilon. — Alfo, a 

 townlhip of Vermont, on White river ; 6 miles N.W. 

 of Norwich. 



SHARP, Abraham, in Biography, an eminent mathe- 

 matician, mechaniil, and aftronomer, was defcended from a 

 family of Little Horton, near Bradford, in Yorklhire, 

 where he was born about 1651. After he had received a 

 good education, he was put apprentice at Mancheftcr, but 

 being fteadily attached to mathematical purfuits, he quitted 

 biifinefs and removed to Liverpool. Here he applied with 

 great diligence to his favourite lludy, and to pr'^curc a fub- 

 fiftence he opened a fehool, where he taught writing and the 

 elements of arithmetic. He next went to London, with 

 the view of ailociating with Mr. Flamftead, by whofe in- 

 terelt he obtained a profitable employment m the dock-yard 

 at Chatham, where he remained till he was invited to become 

 the alUftant of Flamltead at the Royal Obfervatory at Green- 

 wich. In this fituation he continued to make obfervations, 

 and had a large (hare in forming a catalogue of 3000 fixed 

 (tars, with their longitudes and magnitudes ; their right af- 

 cenfion and polar diftance, and the variations of the fame, 

 while they change their longitude by one degree. In this 

 employment he injured his health, and was obliged to retire 



to 



