946 Marvels of the Universe 
which inspire that nameless dread 
are known only to the shipwrecked 
in tropical seas, or those who, in 
these regions, find themselves sud- 
denly overboard. The most dreaded 
of all these hounds of the sea is 
the Great Blue Shark, or ‘“‘ Man- 
eater’ Shark, as it is often called. 
Specimens of forty feet long are 
on record, but these are dwarfs 
compared with an extinct species, 
which, judging from the size of 
teeth in the British Museum, must 
have attained more than twice this 
length. But no less dangerous 1s 
the smaller Common Blue Shark 
of the English Channel, which attains 
a length of about twenty-five feet. 
Young sharks of this species, seven 
or eight feet long, are not unfre- 
quently taken off our coasts. The 
fins of this shark, and _ allied 
species, are much used for making 
soup in parts of India and China, 
though less now than formerly. 
Half a century ago as many as 
four hundred tons were exported 
from Bombay to China. It is a 
somewhat surprising fact that in 
places like Aden, where sharks of 
various kinds abound, the natives 
will swim and dive fearlessly in 
os < the open sea, while a European 
Photo by] [H. J. Shepstone. : : 
THE HEAD OF THE ELFIN SHARK. following their example would be 
The under-surface has been photographed to show the position of the instantly devoured. Does the white 
mouth, which is that of the average Shark. How this came about is not 9 
known; possibly the body of the Shark has in the course of time become skin of the European OA aad 
more elongated, while the mouth has remained in its primitive position. lure ? 
The largest of living sharks is the Rhinodon, or Whale Shark, of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, 
which attains a length of as much as sixty feet. It is, however, a quite harmless species. It is 
curious that the Great Greenland Shark of the Arctic seas, a clumsy-looking creature of some 
six-and-twenty feet long, should never have been known to attack shipwrecked men, since it 
is a most determined foe of the huge Right Whales, which formerly abounded in these seas. The 
species stands unique among sharks for the small size of its eggs, which, furthermore, lack the horny 
case so characteristic of the eggs of the Shark tribe. 
One of the most characteristic features of the Shark is the position of its mouth, which, as every- 
body knows, is placed on the under-surface of its head. Why is this? By way of answer, we may 
hazard a guess that it has come about in the transformation of the body towards gaining increased 
speed. To effect this end the snout has been thrust forward beyond the jaws, giving the body a 
pointed, torpedo shape, greatly facilitating the flight through the water during the chase of prey. 
