D4 BASKING SHARK. Class IV. 



not direclly in the middle, but rather nearer the 

 head^ the other fmall, and fituated near the tail. 

 On the lower part were five others ; viz. two 

 perioral fins; two ventral fins, placed juft beneath 

 V the hind fin of the back ; and a fmall anal fin. 

 Near thefe, the male had two genitals, as in other 

 lliarks ; and between thefe fins was fituated the 

 pudendum of the female. 



The tail was very large, and the upper part 

 remarkably longer than the lower. 



The color of the upper part of the body was a 

 deep leaden ; the belly white. 



The fkin was rough, like fhagreen, but lefs fo 

 on the belly than the back. 



Within fide the miOuth, towards the throat, was 



a very fhort fort of whalebone. 



Liver. The liver was of a great fize, but that of the 



female was the largefi ; fome weighed above a 



O I L. thoufand pounds, and yielded a great quantity of 



pure and Iweet oil, fit for lamps, and alfo much 



ufed by the people who took them, to cure brui- 



fes, burns, and rheumatic complaints. A large fiih 



has afforded to the captors a profit of twenty 



pounds. They were viviparous, a young one a- 



bout a foot in length being found in the belly 



of a fifh of this kind. 



The meafurements of one, I found dead on 

 the fhore of Loch Ranza in the ifie of Arran^ were 

 as follow. The whole length twenty feven ittt^ 

 four inches : firft dorfal fin, three feet 5 fecond, 



one 



