51 



was 31 feet, height 8h feet, and 19 feet round, the mouth 

 5J feet wide, extent of the tail 6 feet 9 inches, weight 8 

 tons. At day break of the 3rd of January, 1809, this 

 enormous fish was discovered at half cable's length from 

 Penryn Quay, steering towards the town ; and three boats 

 were manned to attack it. It was brought into shallow 

 water, and by favour of the ebbing tide subdued. There 

 was no oil except in the liver, from which 198 gallons 

 were taken. Pennant represents his Basking Shark to b« 

 of rather a slender form ; but the measured dimensions and 

 figure of the specimen here referred to, represent a very 

 bulky fish, with the snout somewhat depressed, the bran- 

 chial orifices reaching from the neck to the throat, pectoral 

 fins higher than I ever saw in a Shark, an anal fin, a raised 

 ridge at the termination of the lateral line, and without the 

 mark of a temporal orifice. 



The second specimen I have designated the Rashleigh 

 Shark — Sq. Rashleighanus (Transactions of Lin. Soc, vol. 

 14, p. 91) in honour of William Rashleigh, Esq., of Mena- 

 billy, who kindly favoured me with the original sketch. It 

 was 29 feet 4 inches long, 24 feet round, fork of the tail 7 feet* 

 the weight 4 Tons ; mouth 2| feet wide. In the drawing, 

 unlike the former species, the eyes are in front, so as to be 

 opposed to a spectator standing before the fish; the snout is 

 rather small and narrow, and somewhat turned up, the head 

 deep, spiracles reaching from neck to throat. The first dor- 

 sal fin elevated, the second small and near the tail ; no anal 

 fin, nor mark of a temporal orifice. It may he questioned if 

 this be not the Sq. Peregrinus of Blainville. 



PICKED DOG. Sq. Acanthias. Jenyns, p. 505. YarrelFs 



Br. F., vol. 2, p. 400. Abundant. 

 HAMMER HEAD. Zygoma Malleus. Yarrell's Br. F., 

 vol. 2, p. 406. Three or tour species are known to have 

 been confounded under this name ; and consequently a mi- 

 nute description, with reference to a figure if possible, will 

 be necessary to identity any one that may fall into the 

 hands of an observer. One specimen is on record, as 

 having been taken in Cornwall, but whether the ti ue Z. 

 Malleus is uncertain. 



Mustelus Equestris, Fauna Italica ? 



A Shark supposed to be of this species was taken with a 

 line by one of our Fishermen. It was a male, the length 54 

 inches ; and laid by the side of a Toper (Sq. Galeus) of the 

 same length, the distinction between these species is easily 

 recognized. In all the proportions it is a stouter fish, with 

 great difference of physiognomy ; the distinction consisting in 

 the greater prominency oi the eye, in this respect exactly re- 



