Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1872-08-08

iul WedpOl, dS tne poor WHdle HAS SOOu
reason to know, to whom it is also dead,
| ly enemy. There are several members of
the saw-fish tilbe; one of the most pecu-
liar is the PriStis cirratus, or cirrated saw
fish, of New South Wales. In the saw of
this Ash the teeth are irregular, one long
and three short ones being placed alter
nately.
The weapon of the narwhal-which by
the by is not strictly a fish, but a member
of the Cetacea found chiefly in the Arctic
seas--is the most perfect specimen of a
very complete and efficient spear, being
composed of the hardest ivory, and taper
ing gradually to a point. But what the
special purpose of this spear is, is not
known; whether 1t Is tised as means OF
attack upon its enemies or to Sc
! cure It's prey, or whether it is a
mere implement for digging a
passage through opposing ice-tloes, as is
| often supposed, we can but conjecture
1t is very singular fact that the spear
of the narwhal is always situated on one
side of the nose, chiefly the left; it does
not project from the middle of the head
| it is no long snout or horn, but an elon
| gated tooth or tusk. The narwhal, when
young has the germs of but three teeth.
Sometimes two of these become develop
ed and grow ott spiked tusks, pointing in
| divergent directions; oftener, however.
but one is the mature result. Whatever
the use of this formidable spear may be,
we know that it is very excellent and val
liable ivory; but for any minute iDforma-
ton as to the natural history of the ami
NAL itself, we should have to rely chiefly
upon the knowledge of the Kamtchat
kans, which amounts to little more than
that it is good eating, produces much oil,
\ and ia nnSCpGSp6 of vol hla
OF daggers. various we have many
! specimens, more particularly amongst the
| family of the Raiid8; and fearful weap-
| ons they are, some of them being serrated
| or barbed, and capable of inflicting terri
ble lacerated wounds. In most of these
| fish the dagger, or spine, ia situated on
| and some way down the elongated tail :;
and as the animal has great muscular
| power in the tail, and is able to whirl it
| about in any direction it may desire, it
not unfrequently deals forth most savage
| retribution to its captors. IL knows full
| we'll, too, how to direct its aim; and it is
told of some of the members of this
| family that if hand, or even a finger,
| be laid upon the fish, it can, by single
| turn of the tail, transfix with its spine
the offending member So dangerous are
| the consequences of these wounds, that
| it is customary (and in France and Italy
| it is made compulsory by law on the fish
ermen) to cut off the tails above the
spines of the fish thus armed before they
are brought to markets; and in this way
almost the only specimen of the eagle-ral
| ever captured alive in this country was
| mutilated; SO that the specimen was use
| less.
Perhaps one of the most formidable
weapons possessed by any fish is the na
tural and terrible pair of shears formed
| by the jaws OF the shark. The only par
allel weapon of offence that can be cited
as used by man would. perhaps, be the
spiked portcullis, but the future mag pre-
sent us with steam shears with blades ten
| feet long, and intended to receive cav
| airy: who knows? There is no telling
where the ingenuity of modern inventors
| in the destructive line may lead us. But
| there are not many instruments so eff
| cient for their purpose as the tooth of d
| shark. 1t is difficult to handle one freel,
| without cutting ones fingers; and when
we consider the tremendous leverage of d
sharks jaws employed against each other
| like scissors, armed with rows of lancets,
it is evident that nothing in the shape OF
| flesh, gristle, or bone could withstand
! them. Their capacity, too. is equal to
| their powers; for pair of jaws taken
| from shark of not more than nine feet
| long has been known to be passed down
over the shoulders and body of man six
feet high without inconvenience. 1t was
| thought to be an act of very unusual
strength and dexterity, on the part of the
Emperor Commodus, to cut man in tw o
at one blow; but the jaws of the white
shark find no difficulty whatever in exc
| cutting that feat. The vast number OF
teeth contained within the sharks Jaw
has been accounted for by some writers
on the hypothesis that they are erected
when the shark Sc zes its prey, at all Other
| times lying fiat on their sides. 1t is now,
| however, more generally admitted thai
the shark only employs the outer row of
| teeth, and that the inner ones are pro-
vision of nature against an accideni
| which is, and must be, a very common
one when the implements are considered
and the force with which they are en-
| ployed, viz the breaking of tooth. In
this case the corresponding tooth on the
inside becomes erect. and is bv degrees
pushed forward into the place of the
broken one-a wondrous and very neces-
sary provision to keep so delicate and
| powerful an apparatus as the sharks jaw
always in order. The voracity of the
| shark forms an endless resource for the
/
towards natural history. Whole ships
crews have been devoured by sharks ere
now, while their omnivorousness is extra
ordinary. This is well exemplifed by
| the observation once made to me by ali
| old tar, who was dilating on the variety
| of objects he had found at one time OF
another inside the bellies of sundry
sharks. Lord love ye, SIR" quo Ben,
there bain't nothin' as you mightn't ex
pee to find in the insides O. shirk, from
d street pianny to milestone.
Continuing the description of the va
riety of weapons eXemplified in fishes,
we have rival of that terrible scourge
the knout, in the tail of the th1esher, OF
fox-shark (Alopias UuLpes). The upper
lobe is tremendously elongated, being
nearly as long as the body of the fish
and amazingly muscular. 1t is curved
the blows which it can and does inf1icl
with this living fail can be heard at q
great distance a herd of dolphins is
scattered as though they were mere sprats
by one stroke of the thresher's tail anC
stories of the combats between the whale
on the one side and a combination oi
| threshers and sword-fish on the other are
too common to need more than refer
ence here. The form of battle usually
consists in the sword-fish stabbing the
whale from beneath, and so driving hin
up to the surface, when the fox shark;
spring upon him, and with resonan
blows from their fearful knouts drive hin
below again upon the weapons of thei
allies.
There are many other points of SINH
larity which might be enlarged upon bu
if one were to attempt to set down al
| thn or nd 10,
which come under cognizance in thi
} subject, they would soon swell the mat
} ter much beyond the limits of a magazine
article.-Frdser's Mdgazine
SchurZ, PleasantOn and the President
CARL SCHURz has been compelled, b