ftomach; though nature has furnished them with a ftomach of wonderful force and thickness, and far exceeding that of any other creature. Whatever their force of digestion is, it has no effect upon their young ones, which always retreat into their ftomachs in time of danger. That digestion is not performed by heat in fith, is equally evident. The coolness of the ftomach of there files is far greater than the temperature of the water out of which they are taken; or of any other part of the fish, or of any other fubttance of animated nature I ever felt. On wrapping one of them round my hand, immediately on being taken out of the fifh, it caused so much aching and numbnefs that I could not endure it long. Of these voraci ous fea-moniters, there are 33 fpecies; of which the following is an exact lift, with defcriptions of the most remarkable :

1. SQUALUS ACANTHIAS, the picked dog fit. There is another species, which has the tame English name, and probably the fame characters. See N° 25.

2. SQUALUS AFRICANUS, the African shark, or Galonne, abounds on the coast of Africa.

3. SQUALUS AMERICANUS, the American bark, or Liche, fwarins on the coafts of A.nerica. 4. SQUALUS BARBATUS, the barbu, or bearded Shark.

carcely out of his depth, the fhark fized his right leg, ftripped the flesh entirely from the bones, and took the foot off at the ancie. He ftill kept his hold, and called to the people in the velle near him, who were standing on the deck, and faw the affair. The tharE then feized his other lez, which the man by his ftruggling difengaged from his teeth, but with the flesh cut through down to the bone, into a multitude of narrow flips. The people in the veffei threw billets of wood into the water, and frightened the fnark away. The young man was brought on fhore. Dr Mofeley was called to him; but he had loft fo much blood before any affiftance could be given him, that he expired before the mangled limbs could be taken off. A few weeks before this, a thark, of 12 feet in length, was caught in the harbour; and on being opened, the entire head of a man was found in his ftomach. The scalp, and Acíli of the face, were macerated to a foft pulpy fubftance; which, on being touched, feparated entirely from the bones. The bones were somewhat foftened, and the futures loofened. (Moseley on Trop. Diseases.) A very extraordinary inftance of intrepidity and friendship is given by Mr Hughes in his Natural History of Barbadoes. It happened about the end of Queen Anne's wars, at Barbadoes. The failors of the York Merchant having ventured into the fea to wash themselves, a large fhark made toward them, upon which they swam back, and all reached the boat except one, whom the monftet overtook, and griping him by the Imail of his back, foon cut him afunder, and swallowed the lower part of his body; the remaining part was taken up and carried on board, where a comrade of his was, whofe friendship with the deceafed had been long and reciprocal. When he saw the fevered trunk of his friend, with an horror and emotion too great for words to paint, he vowed that he would make the devourer difgorge, or be swallowed himself in the Iame grave, and plunged into the deep, armed with a fharp pointed knife. The fhark no fooner saw him; but he made furiously toward him; both equally eager, the one of his prey, the other of revenge. The moment the fhark opened his rapacious jaws, his adverfary dexterously diving, and grafping him with his left hand fomewhat below the upper fins, fuccessfully employed his knife in his right hand, giving him repeated flabs in the belly; the enraged shark, after many utavaining efforts, finding himfeif overmatched, in his own element, endeavouring to difengage bimf.If, fometimes plunging to the bottom, then mad with pain, rearing his uncouth forms now ftamed with his own ftreaming blood, above the foaming waves. The crews of the furrounding veffels faw the unequal combat, uncertain from which of the combatants the streams of blood iTued; till at length the fhark, much weakened by the lofs of blood, made toward the fhore, and with him his conqueror; who, now affured of victory, pushed his foe with redoubled ardour, and, by the help of an ebbing tide, dragged him on thore, sipped up his bowels, and united and buried the f vered carcafe of his friend. It is evident (Gys Dr Mofely.) that digeftion in these animals je hot performed by trituration, nor by the mulcular action of the

5. SQUALUS CANICULA, the greater dog fish, or Spotted shark, is diftinguished by large noftrils, which are covered by a lobe and worm-fhape i flap, or by the pofition of the anal £n, which is at an equal diftance from the anus and tail. The body is fpotted; the head is fmall, with a fhort foout; the eyes are oblong; the iris whitish; the mouth is large and oblong, armed with three rowa of teeth; the tongue is cartilaginous; the anus is before the middle of the body; the first dorfai fin is behind the ventrai fins; the other, which is lefs, is almoft oppofite the anal fin; the caudai fin is narrow and marginated. This species i found in almost every fea, is about 4 feet long, extremely voracious, generally feeding on fi ? and is long lived. The fkin, which is fpotted. a leopard, is used when dried for various purposes.

6. SQUALUS CARCHARIAS, the requiu, or white fbark, is often 30 feet long, and, according to Gillius, weighs 4000lb. The mouth is fometimes furnished with a fix-fold row of teeth, flat, triangular, and exceedingly tharp at their edges, and fively ferrated. Mr Pennant had one rather more than an inch and a half long. Grew fays, that thofe in the jaws of a fhark two yards in length are not half an inch; fo that the fish to which this tooth belonged must have been fix yards long, provided the teeth and body keep pace in their growth. (See plate CCCXVIII. fig. 1. and 2.) This dreadful apparatus, when the fith is in a ftate of repofe, es quite ilat in the mouth; Fut when he feizes his prey, he has power of erecting them by the help of a fit of mufcles that join them to the jaw. The mouth is placed far beneath; for which reafon thefe, as well as the rest of the kind, are obiged to turn on their backs to f their prey; which is an obfervation as ancient as the days of Pliny. The eyes are large; the back broad, flat, and shorter than that of other sharks. The tail is of a femilunar form, but the upper part

fize

s lower than the lower. It has vaft ftrength in the tail, and can ftrike with great force; fo that th failors inftantly cut it off with an axe as foon as they draw one on board. The pectoral fins are very large, which enables it to fwim with great fwiftnefs. The colour of the whole body and fins is a light afh. The ancients were acquainted with this fifh; and Oppian gives a long and entertaining account of its capture. Their fith is fometimes eaten, but is esteemed courfe. They are the dread of the failors in all hot cimates, where they constantiy attend the ships in expectation of what may drop over-board: a man that has that misfortune, perifhes without redemption. A mafter of a Guinea fhip informed Mr Pennant, that a rage of fuicide prevailed among his new-bought flaves, from a notion the unhappy creatures had, that after death they fhould be restored again to their families, friends, and country. To convince them at least that they should not reanimate their bodies, he ordered one of their corpies to be tied by the heels to a rope and lowered into the fea; and though it was drawn up again as faft as the united force of the crew could be exerted, yet in that short space the sharks had devoured every part but the feet, which were fecured at the end of the cord. Swimmers very often perith by them; fometimes they lofe an arm or a leg, and fometimes are bit quite afunder, ferving but for two morfels for this ravenous animal: a melancholy tale of this kind is related in a West India ballad, preferved in Dr Percy's Relics of ancient English poetry. This fpecies inhabits the abyss of the ocean, and only appears on the furface when allured by its prey. It is the moft voracions of all animals, not even it is faid fparing its own offspring, and often fwallowing its prey entre. This is probably the fpecies of fish, that fwallowed the prophet Jonah; for a whale it could not be, without an additional miracle. See JONAH. 7. SQUALUS CATULUS, the fmaller dog-fife, has a large hea; the pupil of the eyes is black; the ris white: the fout is of a bright hue; the mouth, ich is large, is fituated between the nostrils, ac is armed with four rows of teeth, ftrrated with three points bent inwards; thofe in the middie between the two mandibles are longer than the rest. The tongue is broad and fmooth; the fpiracles are five; the back is tapering and yellowish; the fides are fomewhat compreffed; the tail longer than the body, and the caudal fin is narrow and marginated; the anterior anal and dorfal fins are behind the ventral; the pofterior dorfal fins is oppofite to the anal. They inhabit the Mediterranean, Northern, and Indian Ocean, and are 2 or 3 feet long.

8. SQUALUS CENTRINA, the humantin. 9. SQUALUS CINEREUS, or the perlon. 10. SQUALUS CIRRATUS, the curled shark. JI. SQUALUS CORNUBIUS, the Por-beagle, or Beaumaris fhark.

12. SQUALUS FERNANDINUS, the Fernandine Park. This fpccies fwarm near Juan Fernandez. 13. SQUALUS GALEUS, the Tope.

14. SQUALUS GLAUCUS, the blue fhark, is about 7 feet long. The colour of the back is a fine He; the belly a fivery white; the head is flat; he cycɛ frail and roundith; the teeth are aimoft

triangular, elongated, and pointed, but not fer rated. The anus is very near the tail; the anterior dorfal fin is fituated before the ventral fin", about the middle of the body, and is almoft ir anguiar; the pofterior dorfal Sn is equal to the anal fin, and is placed nearer the tail; the pectoral fins are large, long, and marginated; and the ventral are blue above and white below; the caudal is blue, divided into two lobes, of which the fuperior is much longer than the inferior lobe. This 'pecies is frequent in every fea, and is fierce ; bat not very destructive in our feas.

15. SQUALUS GRISEUS, the Grifet.

16. SQUALUS INDICUS, the Indian fhark, abounds in the Indian ocean.

17. SQUALUS ISABELLA has a wrinkly potted fkin, and the anterior dorfal En is perpendicu ar to the abdominal fins. The body is fomewhat t; the head thort, large, and obtuf. The teeth are difpofed in fix rows, compreffed thert, an triangular, having a notch on each hide of their bafes. The eyes are funk, the iris is of a copper colour, and the pupil is black and ob long. The fins of the back are almoft square; the caudal fin is divided into two holes, and the lateral line is parallel to the back. The upper part of the body is of a reddish ath-cok ur, with blackifh fpors difpofed irregularly. The under part is of a dirty white hue. This fpecies is found near New Zealand, and is about 4 feet long. 18. SQUALUS KUMALIS, the Kumal.

19. SQUALUS LONGICAUDUS, the long-tailed bark.

20. SQUALUS MASSASA, the Maffa.

21. SQUALUS MAXIMUS, the bajking fhark, or the fun-fifh of the Iith. (See plate CCCXVIII. fig. 3.) This fpecies has been long known to the inhabitants of the S. and W. of land and Scotland, and thofe of Caernarvonshire and Anglefea; but is defcribed by no English writer except Mr Pennant; and has been mistaken for and confounded with the luna of Rondeletius, which English writers call the fun-fjh. The Irish and Welth give it the fame name, from its ying as if to for itself on the furface of the water; and for the fame reafon Mr Pennant calls it the baking fhark. It was long taken for a fpecies of whale, till Mr Pennant pointed out the bronchial orifices on the fides, and the perpendicular fite of the tail. Thefe are migratory fish; in a certain number of years they are feen in multitudes on the Welfh feas, though in most fummers a fingle frayed fish appears. They inhabit the northern feas, even as high as the artic circle. They vifited the bays of Caernarvonshire and Anglesea in vast shoals in the fummers of 1756, and a few fucceeding years, continuing there only the hot months; for they quitted the coaft about Michaelmas. These fith vifited thefe feas in vaft numbers about 50 years ago. They appear in the Frith of Clyde, and among the Hebrides, in Ju c, in fmall droves of 7 or 8, but ottener in pairs. They continue in thote feas till the end of July. They have nothing of the fierce and voracious nature of the thark kind, and are fo tame as to fuffer the mfelves to be ftrcked; they generally lie motionless on the furface, commonly on their bellies, but fon.etimes on their backs. Their food feems to conlift entirely of

fpiracles five. The anterior dorsal fin correfponds to thofe of the belly; the pofterior is fituated in the middie, between the former and apex of the tail; the pectoral fins are broad and long; the caudai is thorter than in the other species. It inha bits all the feas from Greenland to Brazil: and is found alfo in the Indian Ocean. It is harmless.

25. SQUALUS SPINAX, the fagre, or picked dogfish, takes its name from a strong and fharp ipine placed just before each of the back-fios, diftinguishing it at once from the rest of the British sharks. The nofe is long, and extends greatly beyand the mouth, but is blunt at the end. The teeth are difpofed in two rows, are finall and sharp, and bend from the middle of each jaw towards the corners of the mouth. The back is of a brownish afh-colour; the belly white. It grows to the weight of about 20lb. This fpecies fwarms on the coafts of Sect.and, where it is taken, fplit, and dried; and is a food among the common people. It forms a fort of inland commerce, being carried on womens backs 14 or 16 miles up the country, and fold or exchanged for neceffaries. 26. SQUALUS SPINOSUS, the bouelé, or spinous fark.

27. SQUALUS SQUAMOSUS, the ecailleux, or fcaly fhark.

fea plants, no remains of fish being ever difcovered in the ftomachs of numbers that were cut up, except fome green ftuff, the half digefted parts of alg, and the like. Linnæus fays they feed on medute. At certain times, they are feen fporting on the waves, and leaping with vaft agility feveral feet out of the water. They fwin very deliberately, with the dorsal fins above water. Their length is from 3 to 12 yards, and fometimes longer. Their form is rather fiender. The upper jaw is much longer than the lower, and blunt at the end. The tail is very large, and the upper part remarkably longer than the lower. The upper part of the body is of a deep leaden colour; the belly white. The skin is rough like thagreen, but les fo on the Feily. In the mouth, towards the throat, is a very short fort of whale-bone. The liver is of a great fize, but that of the female is the largeft; fome weigh above 1000 pounds, and yield a great quantity of pure and fweet oil, fit for lamps, ad alto much used to cure bru fes, burns, and rheumatic complaints. A large fifa has afforded to the capters a profit of 20!. They are viviparous; a young one about a foot in length being found in the belly of a fifh of this kind. One found dead on the fhore of Loch Ranza in the ifle of Arran, measured as follows: The whole length, 27 feet 4 inches; firft dorfal fin, 3 feet; fecond, 1 foot; pectoral fin, 4 feet; ventral, 2 feet; the upper lobe of the tail, 5 feet; the lower, 3. They will permit a boat to follow them, without accelerating their motion till it comes almoft within contact when a harponeer ftrikes his weapon into them, as near to the gills as pofiole. But they are often fo infenfible as not to move till the united firength of two men have forced in the harpoon deeper. As foon as they perceive themselves wounded, they fling up their tail, and plung headlong into the bottom; and frequently coil the robe round them in their agonies, attempting to difengage the harpoon by rolling on the ground, for it is often found greatly bent. As foon as they difcover that their efforts are in vain, they fwim away with amazing rapidity, and with fuch violence, that there has been an inftance of a veffe of 70 tons having been towed away agant a fresh gate. They fometimes run off with 200 fathoms of ine, and with two harpoons in them; and will employ the fishers for 12, and fometimes for 24 hours, before they are fubdued. When killed, they are either hauled on fhore, or, if at a distance from land, to the veff's fide. The liver (the only ufeful part,) is taken out, and melted into oil in kettles. A large fish will y eld 8 barrels of oil, and 2 of sediment.

I

22. SQUALUS MUSTELUS, the fmooth bound fbark.

23. SQUALUS OCELLATUS, the Qeille.

24. SQUALUS PRISTIS, the fole, or far-fish, is fometimes 13 feet long, smooth, black on the upper parts, aft-coloured on the fides, and white underneath. The head is flat and conical; the beak or fnout projecting from the nofe is about 5 feet long, covered with a coriaceous fkin, and armed on each fide, generally with 24 long, ftrong, and sharp-pointed teeth; but the number varies with age. The teeth are granulated; the eyes large, the iris of a golden colour, and the

28. SQUALUS SQUATINA, the angel-fish, or ra ther Devil Fish, is from 6 to 8 feet long, has a large head; teeth broad at their base, but slender and very sharp above, and difpofed in five rows a round the jaws. Like thofe of all fharts, they are capable of being railed or depreffed by means of mufles uniting them to the jaws, not being lodged in fockets as the teeth of cetaceous fil are. The back is of a pale afh-colour, and very rough; along the middle is a prickly tuberculated line: the belly is white and fmooth. The pectoral fins are very large, and extend horizontally from the body to a great distance; they have fome refemblance to wings, whence its name. The ventrai fins are placed in the fame manner, and the double penis is placed in them; which forms another character of the maies in this genus. This fpecies connects the genus of rays and fharks, partaking fomewhat of the character of both; yet it is an exception to each in the fituation of the mouth, which is placed at the extre mity of the head. It is pretty frequent on moit of our coats, where it prowls about for prey. It is extremely voracious; and feeds on flounders and flat fish, which keep at the bottom of the water. It is exce ding fierce, and dangerous to be approached. Mr Pennant mentions a fith.rman whofe leg was terribly tore by a large one of this fpecies, which lay within his nets in fhallow water, and which he went to lay hold of incautioufly. The afpect of thefe, as well as the reft of the genus, have much malignity in them; their eyes are oblong, and placed lengthwife in their head, funk in it, and overhung by the fkin, and feem fuller of malevolence than fire. Then fkin is very rough; the ancients made use of it to polish wood and ivory, as we do at prefent that of the greater dog-fih. The feth is now but little esteemed on account of its coarseness and rankines; yel A -cheftratus (as quoted by Atheneus. p. 31).) beaking of the fish of Miletus, gives this the fit place,