236 



SCIENCE. 



DO SHARKS SWALLOW THEIR YOUNG FOR 



PROTECTION? 

 To the Editor of Science : 



Sir: In the New York Tribune for July 7, 1880, un- 

 der the heading " A Female Shark Captured," was 

 printed a statement made to a reporter by Mr. Eugene 

 G. Blackford, well and favorably known to the community, 

 not only as one of the largest dealers in fish at Fulton 

 Market, but also as an enthusiastic co-operator with the 

 United States Fish Commission. The essential parts of 

 the statement are as follows : " A Porbeagle shark 

 (Lamna punctata)* was caught off Great Neck, 

 Long Island, and came into my possession not more 

 than seven hours after death. From the immense 

 size of her stomach I thought she must have 

 swallowed a barrel or two of moss-bunkers, and to 

 gratify my curiosity I opened her. I found ten little 

 shark, evidently her offspring, and all just the same 

 size — exactly two feet long. I should say they were 

 about six months old, for a shark when hatched from 

 the egg measures about four inches. It has been a 

 disputed question among fishermen whether young sharks 

 in time of danger do not seek safety in their mother's 

 stomach. I think this case proves that they do, for the 

 little ones were perfectly sound, with no mark of diges- 

 tion upon them." 



In answer to a request for more explicit information, 

 Mr. Blacktcrd, August 25, wrote me a letter from which, 

 with his permission, I extract the following: "Just as 

 the men were about to open the shark I was called away. 

 When I returned they showed me the ten young, but I 

 did not preserve them. The men said they were in the 

 stomach, but the viscera had been thrown away, so I 

 could not verify their statement. As I understand it, 

 sharks are oviparous and not viviparous, so they could 

 not have been in the womo. Will you kindly let me 

 have your opinion on this? Should another specimen 

 ever come into my hands I shall take great care that it is 

 scientifically examined if you think it is of importance." 



In reply, I informed Mr. Blackford that many species 

 of sharks bring forth living young, and expressed the 

 opinion that the little ones found by his men were really 

 in the enlarged oviducts rather than in the true stomach, 

 and suggested that he should publish some qualification 

 of the original account, or authorize me to do so for him. 



As time passed without my hearing from him, I con- 

 cluded that he was preparing a note upon the subject, 

 and hoped, moreover, that no journal under scientific 

 supervision would give even a qualified sanction to the 

 original statement without making enquiries like my own. 

 Nevertheless, the paragraph in the Tribune was copied, 

 substantially, into the Scientific American for July 31, 

 and formed the ba.is ( f the following " Zoological Note" 

 in the American Naturalist for October : " Mr. E. G. 

 Blackford states that ten sharks, two feet in length and 

 apparently about six months old, were taken from the 

 stomach o a mackerel shark {Lamna punctata), as if 

 they had got there to avoid danger. Still, it is probable 

 that sharks may eat their young." 



Upon hearing of this dissemination of the error, Mr. 

 Blacklord wrote me on the 19th and 28th of October: 

 " I was under the impression that I wrote you before to 

 make what corrections, you saw proper, to the shark story. 

 I have given corrected statements to the World news- 

 paper, and to Forest and Stream, and should be only too 

 happy to have you make further corrections, as there is 

 nothing I regret so much as to have anything purporting 

 to emannate from me that looks like a yarn." 



Availing myself of Mr. Blackford's permission I repeat, 

 that, while it may not be right to deny the possibility of 

 young shatks seeking refuge from danger— as do some 



* It is also known as the Mackerel shark, and ha been named Lamna 

 tpallanvanii x and Isuropis deknyi. 



snakes — by entering the mouth of the parent, the case in 

 Question furnishes not a particle of evidence in favor of 

 that idea, and the little sharks were probably the unborn 

 young, closely packed in the enlarged oviducts of the 

 mother. B. G. Wilder. 



Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y., Nov. 4, 1880. 



A FINE BOLIDE. 

 By Edwin F. Sawyer. 



A bolide, the most brilliant I have ever witnessed, ap- 

 peared on the evening of October 25th, at 8 h. 10 

 min. C. M. T. It commenced near e Persei, at R. A. 

 55° + 4°° Dec., and exploded above a Aurigae (Capella), 

 at R. A. 76 4- 52 Dec. When first observed it was as 

 bright as a 1st mag. star, and of a deep orange color. 

 As it slowly proceeded it grew rapidly brighter, (its color 

 in the meanwhile changing to light yellow and then 

 white) first exceeding u (Jupiter) in brilliancy, and then 

 ? (Venus), and at the moment of the explos.on was 

 many times brighter than the latter planet. Several dis- 

 tinct flashes were noted during its flight. At the mo- 

 ment of explosion (accompanied by a very vivid flash) 

 the nucleus appeared somewhat elongated and of a pale 

 green color, while the points of light and sparks radiating 

 from it were of a beautiful red. During the first half of 

 its course there appeared to be little or no streak accom- 

 panying the bolide ; but during the latter part of its path 

 a broad and intensely white streak was observed, which, 

 however, disappeared almost immediately after the ex- 

 tinction of the nucleus. 



The bolide was three and a half seconds in traversing 

 a path of 17 , its velocity gradually increasing up to the 

 point of explosion. No detonation was heard, although 

 particularly listened for. 



The radiant point of this bolide was somewhere along 

 its apparent path prolonged backwards. This path 

 when carried back passes a few degrees north of e 

 Anetis, and remarkably close to a radiant point of an im- 

 portant meteor shower, lately determined and particularly 

 described by Mr. W. F. Denning, F. R. A. S., in the 

 Science Observer, Vol. I, No. 7. This shower appears to 

 endure from October 20th to November 13th, with a 

 maximum on October 31-Nov. 4th. The meteors from 

 ihis shower are generally slow moving and very bright. 

 Two bodies, equal in brightness to Venus, were observed 

 in England on the evening of November 4th, 1877, by 

 Messrs. Wood and Backhouse, and traced to this radiant. 



The position of this special meteor stream is at about 

 R. A. 43 + 22 near e Arietis. Several quite bright and 

 short meteors (including one nearly stationary) belonging 

 to this shower were observed by the writer from Nov. 7 

 to 19th, 1879, and giving a well determined position as at 

 R. A, 47 + 24 ". A rough sketch of the bolide as it ap- 

 peared at the moment of explosion is here given. 



Duplicate observations of this fine bolide are desired 

 and would be of great value. 



Cambridgcport, Oct. 31st, 1880. 



