152 
NATURAL HISTORY. 
watches the opportunity, plunges his knife in the fish’s belly, 
and pursues his blows with such success, that he lays the ra- 
venous tyrant dead at the bottom: he soon however returns, 
fixes the fish’s head in a noose, and drags him to shore, 
where he makes a noble feast for the adjacent villages. 
Nor is man alone the only enemy this fish has to iear: the 
Remora , or sucking fish, is probably a still greater, and fol- 
lows the shark every where. This lish has got a power of 
adhering to whatever it sticks against, in the same manner 
as a cupping-glass sticks to the human body. It is by such 
an apparatus that this animal sticks to the shark, drains 
away its moisture, and produces a gradual decay. 
There are several other species of the shark. The Blue 
Shark is distinguished by a line smooth skin on its back of a 
blue colour. The observation of ./Elian, that the young of 
this animal when pursued, will take refuge in the belly of 
its mother, by swimming down her mouth, is confirmed by 
one of the best of modern icthyologists (Rondeletius). Mr. 
Pennant, however does not apprehend this circumstance to 
be peculiar to the blue shark, but rather common to the 
whole genus. 
The Long-1 ailed Shark. The author whom we have just 
quoted, mentions the dimensions of one of these animals 
which w 11 serve to give tut idea of the general proportions 
of this species. The fish in question was thirteen feet in 
length, of which the tail was more than six, the upper lobe 
much longer than the lower. The body was round and 
short, the nose short and pointed. The eyes large, and 
placed immediately over the corners of the mouth. This fish 
was anciently called the Sea Fox, from its supposed cunning. 
The Basking Shark has nothing of the rapacious nature 
of these animals, but feeds entirely on sea plants. They 
sometimes visit our coasts in the summer season, when they 
will lie basking in the sun on the surface of the water, and 
are so tame as to suffer themselves to be stroked. They 
are in length from three to twelve yards, and sometimes 
even larger. 
The Hammer-headed Shark, or Balance Fish, is an animal 
of a very peculiar form. The head is placed transversely to 
the body, like the head of a hammer or mallet. It is termi- 
nated at each end by an eye, which is so placed that it more 
conveniently looks downward than either upward or sideways. 
In the farther part of the forehead near the eyes on each side 
there is a large oblong foramen or orifice, serving either for 
hearing or smelling, or perhaps for both. The mouth is very 
large, placed under thg head, and armed with four rows of 
teeth extremely sharp. The tail consists of two fins one longer 
