324 
THE WHITE SHARK. 
watching till fome failor drop overboard, or attempt to 
bathe ; in either cafe, the unfortunate feaman periflies 
without redemption ; for this voracious creature, will 
even dart up above the water to meet him in his fall. 
It is in this fifli that Rondeletius places the prophet 
Jonat, when he lay fo long unhurt in bowels ; and he 
fays, that the language of Scripture gives no repugnance 
to his idea ; for among the ancients all large filh what- 
ever were termed whales *, 
The mouth of this fpecies is proportioned to the im- 
menfe bulk of the animal : it is furnilhed with fix rows 
of teeth, the number of which probably varies, accord- 
ing to the age of the filh. Fofiil teeth of the white lharic 
are frequently dug up in Malta , and fometimes in 
England : in the former country, they have been feen 
four inches long, which muft have belonged to animals 
of vaft fize, if the proportions laid down by Grew, be- 
tween the body and the teeth of this fpecies, are juflf : 
He affects, that thofe in the jaw of a ffiark of two yards 
Jong, are not above half an inch ; the fofiil teeth found 
in Malta would, according to this calculation, belong to 
an animal fixteen yards in length Linnaus has enume- 
rated fifteen different fpecies of fharks ; but if the appear- 
ances of the teeth, fhewn in the colle&ion of the curi- 
ous, can be trailed to, he is far fliort of their aftual 
number ; tor many kinds are feen, of which no mention 
is made by him. 
Pliny, Oppian, and feveral of the ancient naturaliftS* 
were acquainted with this fpecies, whofe mouth they 
juftly defcribe.as fituated far beneath the head, obligfi’S 
fhe animal to turn almoft upon its back, when it devours 
| Rondel, de pifcib, 485, 
f Rarities, 91, 
