, 1869-04-18

s1ruGg:e, the old rod Parted; but tnis time !. IT
upon lie bafs Of the reel The nsn struggled and
shook himself, but the tenacious 1nres would not
part, he ceased to battle, csme painting 70 the
shot toward him, aud = + guded n5 John passed
the laudlrg-net beneath him, aad the brave lighter
hase, measured i've inches: and his length from
DIP to DIP MAS seventeen inches and three qoAEterz
THE sWoRD-FIsH N COURT.
Fyup. "L<ir.re Heurs.'
Being an old Paeinc Mnaler, WIS somewhat IN
tefesteu lately In rea11tnx the rp0H OF = legal
aetion tIicd before Lord Ccief Justice Boviu and
special Jury. HEas an action against an lnsur"
ance company TO recover damages SAD 10 be sns-
talned BY ahlp 1t sea hJ 3 thrust from sword
The ship Dreadn.ught left Colombo on the 10Th
ng port, The crew hooked a tsh which broke the
line: 1namedlatelT afterwards when parity throw.
tAa1 The 1sh wns swordnsh-
That night the ship sprang d leak aud Hade nine
or ten 1nchc8 per hour, and on being taken Into
port and "hoye down"a small hole, about an
inch In diameter, wns found through the copper
shcathing and pnnkirg On the port SIDE Of tho YES
SCI This vas the side on Witch the sWord-nah hns1
The plaintiff claimed that the nsh atd the dann-
agt, nd II resisting this ,a claim Professor Owen
tcresttng that an su1e the reaurr Hll parton its
tutroACcton here.
with the nature Of sword-nsh, The sword was
composed of the hardest bOny substance known
and was covered with substance still hnrder, Like
own knowledge with Two instances ct these ani
rnals having penetrated ships In both cases the
swords were broken On and lefl In the YES
sells sides The hrlt1leness Of bone was In the
ratio Of Its hardness or density. He knew OF
no instance Of the swosd haytag been With
drawn from ships side, either Of bis OWE
knowledge or from reading. The dImculty Of e1-
t1aetion would depend upon the extent Of wood
thai had been penetrated One specimen Of pene-
tlaxion HAS at Sutgeons' Hail In that case the
found In breaking up the vessel His orn descztp-
ton Of this case waa that the sword had penetai-
umoe1s e he depth oi fourteen inches, md nssrly
that extent Of swo1t had been broken on BY the
enect Of 1he blow, md bad heen retained N tho
bent md crushed As BY the passage Of = swivel
ball A second specimen is IN 1he British Museum.
% Ina e e IT. Il >. II 6
understood, the sword had penetrated three inches
| ~ '' tn ~ that case that extraction
sn not ten ss ns4 ae
he should say that the nsn could not extt1care It
He should Like to gt1e an instance OF i anlp being
uon II Nj Hugh Cpmminga, very distinguished
naturalist and accurate observer. He had char-
tered a ship at Valparaiso for the purpose Of
|
tufai history. They got becalmed IN the Bay Of
/ Panama, and alr- Cummings, about eleven IN the
s1s 'ss sap Il ~ I'd seS Ths1 ss t
| rushed upon deck and found that al the crew
had ruEhed there TOO. The lead was thrown over
| sixty tathomS. Attention IVES Attracted to great
dsshlng In the sea over the bow Of the vesscL and
then they saw q sworu-nsh twelve feet long. II
! hAd run It's sWort through the timberB Of
| the ship and into q berth beyond. The struggles
I OF the fish 10 extr1case Itself ended in ita
e1 il the soe nTes sas as@ Ga ~ n
professor Owen that he saw the 1sn, which had
Killed itsef b5 the rupture Of vessels consequent
on the e1orta that broke % the sword.
aoHly DESCENDING, rolling over and alternately ex-
posing it's purple back and silsey belly. Mr.
Cummings returned TO Valparaiso, There dill not
appear 10 have been any great danger to the ship,
Tor the sword Naa firmly In. 1t had been cslcu-
lated in Smith 8 "Mar1time History OF Nassacbu-
Of ateen blows Of one Of The large doahie- handed
hammers; that It would requlfc these blows 10
drive one iron bolt the sauo depth into the tim.
beER The Professor further compared the blow OF
the BHord- nth to that Of swivel shot.
THIS evidence was supported BY that OF 2r:
anE Sh9 Is aa tarn I9as ss Eta
power WAS In Its tall Ike the screH Of ship: but
the fAh could not Ego astero, or only had s1ght
svor1-nsh " lhe bcak II could not 70 back. and
had noticed with live salmon that they Aways tn
to 60 fo.vatd Whether tnelsword,nsh could *
pend upon the depth that It had penetrated tnte
the wood. II ii we're in 70 the depth OF tht
breadth Of one hand, be did not think It possible
that the nsh could get It out and he did not think
thAt, In the present instance, II could bare h1
Ttthdlnwn. The copper r.sSula cll--. Ina .rnri
ne naa loGkeI over sn nc bocss ever written upoy
o. tae!r har1g sos their beaEs H. but none Of the
J lne evidence Of ffofeasor Owen and Nj. Buck
the veteran Nj. John Edward Gray, the keeper
q the natural history department. of the British
iii PROFESSOR Ovens evidence Is correctly re-
| ported Ia vou1 article on The Sword. Fish L
Court IL the last rli;ccoer Of Land and Water,
he must have forsotteu, or n.,. 1e.ve seeu the Nj
scum regulation respecting the taking pf ar1lcies
In The Museum 70 the courts Of tustiG55,
ne regulation and the practice are }ust as ST
William BOWL said they ought to be; that u, on
ana Iastees any sce ii u tie he EF1usSs Esa xuseun 11t
may be taken 70 the court, but It mu1s be accom-.
painted By and In the custody Of The keeper of the
depsstment 70 which 1t belongs, or his deputy.
Books and manuscripts are orren required and
arc pr Ghneed IN courr, and especially at The House
q FL Io.dA under this regulation I do not recol:
navtng been required In court Of Justice during
tho list halfcentury that have known the No
Brttlsh Association The Trusiees rave pe,mission
Tor the foot Of the ddo 10 be taken to the meeting
= Oxford 70 compare With the feet Of the one ia
Joa must reoollect.
"To show the conflicting nature Of scientific
ihe broad dnned sTora M and tie Ssss II tss ~
timber that Is tn the B11uka Museum, ny
evidence would hare been decidedly ID
'cyladfteal hole, one inch ia IA dl.meser,; net :
could not hare been made by the beaE Of q
t;te sa,an5ed NJ sNoEtns s4i,seasa.s.a am ~.
canse don believe that the beak Of tie common
sNotddsh tItphtus, is sufficiently strong 70 even
ought to he oblou9 snd transverse, and nos dEcus @
ias, ~ thA& IN the form Of It's cruss section. The
oroaa-dnned sToru.nsh, though no doubt \ noss
the timber OF the ship like q giobulaz csnaon-
| .The beak Of tho nsh is long, slender, cou,cat.
| wood gradually. pushing the grain OF the wood
aside mot naan9 hole IKE an aaeer,; md Il
| which. Jon muN rccoilect, would then be
soaking IN the water, would gradually
M H., i, form s@ d1' ma ~ y hq: @ads
knoEs Low the hole and crash made By =
cannon bali IN the side Of shlp oils up for This
SECONDLY, do not think but this "a moro a mst-
annea sNord.asn has once entered the stde Of
hth Is covered with hard E1annle4 These mus
o1eF great resdstance 70 lts beinY drawn back
.s1s naen 5oa eonsde, he form Of he hols
clasp the teak very tightly. The beak Of the COM
mon sworu-nsh Is smooth, and, therefore, argue,
not TO be compared with the beak OF the broad.
nnned sworl- nsh In such case The beat OF he
common swordLnsh could easil! Be wi1hdr1Vn
nun hole where the beak Of y broat-1nucd one
would be most 0Tlny nIet1.
THIS L. censlsseni NTH our experience An the
speGimensot timber Of Avcssei thax hss heed Aerced
ectlons have the teak s.1u enclosed In the hole.
90 not think that the beak Of the common sword
~ ~ Is 1amSichuy p strong to enter the side Of 4
the bzuad-cnncd swort-Czh makes tn the wood
that is In collections The bczks OF A the broad
nnAed awotlG Cab thai have seen which have en-
FNDc
inch N diameter.
-CndeF all circumstances, do not believe that
ter could have ben made by lie beai Of 4 sword
"a, ~, IN! Il is much mort nkelJ to hare been the
n1!e n,, made y N aose which ought to have been
Such Is the commentary Of Hr. Gray.
An not familiar with The scientific distinctions
Ielesred to BY nstlrausts hut With The swori-css
the "fi4ler," | have bad nsny opportunities OF
gaining acqr ttntanee- 1t has = long round body,
tail 1t has atrsll mouth, no teeth and rough |
akin- The back Is black, and the belly Is OF .
ns seas 1a o@ e se se
% lie belly. md she tai Is much iorked ' A'4'
tanre nom The lower hV, in shape Of = straight
8wort, and Is generally very sharp At the end 1t
y Of extreme h,ztnesA II Is = frequent sight in |
they centrally manage to accomplish, although I
shete reason to believe TINT they are often many
no1ry about T.
From what have seen Of the swor1 Dish, quite I
Asree with the evidence given for the defence on
NE tz7al before the Lord Chief Justice. The force
charge Is msde. they xasE VA IN The same man
eather foree for blow, aaa without thou doing doing this is
theJ Are nearly poweriesk The force with which
= awori would be driven into the planktng Of
certainly prevent Il from being eIrr!cated BY any
1nEA ular towe1 the creature potsesseA