262 The Commercial Products of the Sea. 



preceding. The word sagri is Persian ; sagker, Turkish, 

 from its resemblance to the dressed leather made from the 

 mule and ass, whence our word shagreen. 



6. Galuchat or Sephen skin, from the back of the Hypo- 

 lopJms Sephen and Trygon Sephen, Cloq. It has numerous 

 round tubercles, which become white by rubbing down, and 

 in the interior opaque and nacreous. The skin is some- 

 times dyed differ&nt colours, but it is often preferable to 

 leave it the natural colour by only half polishing it. 



The quantity of ray skins, dried or salted, imported 

 into France in 1863 was about 18,000 lbs. weight, prin- 

 cipally from Portugal. Formerly they used to fetch as 

 high as seven francs the pound ; now they may be had for 

 i^. a pound. 



The best galuchat, or what we should call shagreen, 

 is made from the skin of the sephen, which abounds in 

 the Mediterranean Sea, and is also met with m the Red 

 Sea and the Indian Ocean. This skin is remarkable for 

 the size of the osseous protuberances. There are, however, 

 two kinds of these rays, one with rough skin and the other 

 with smooth. 



From a certain portion of the skin of the angel shark 

 {Squatina dngelus) the Turks make the most beautiful 

 sea-green watch-cases. These sharks, which form a con- 

 necting link between the genera of rays and sharks, are 

 found in the Mediterranean principally, and the German 

 Ocean sometimes. The skin, being very rough, is em- 

 ployed to polish wood and ivory, as well as for other uses 

 in the arts. 



Turners, ebonists, and carpenters in Europe use the 

 rough skin of the blue dog-fish {Sqiidlits glaucus, Lin.) 

 like emery paper, for smoothing their work and preparing 

 it for polishing. This shark skin is also used by the 



