American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1872-08-10

the SaW-flSh tr1be; one or the most peel
liar is the Pristis cir7atus, or cirrated saw
fish, of New South Wales. In the saw c
this fish the teeth are irregular, one lon
and three short ones being placed altel
nately.
The weapon of the narwhal-which b.
the by is not strictly fish, but membe
of the Cetacea found chiefly in the Arcti
seas-is the most perfect specimen of
very complete and efficient spear, bein
composed of the hardest ivory, and taper
ing gradually to a point. But what tn
special purpose of this spear is, is no
known; whether it is used as means o
attack upon its enemies or to sc
cure its prey, or whether it is
mere implement for digging
passage through opposing ice foes, as i
often supposed, we can but conjecture
1t is very singular fact that the spea
of the narwhal is always situated on on,
side of the nose, chiefly the left; it doe
not project from the middle of the head
| it is no long snout or horn, but an elon
gated tooth or tusk. The narwhal, wheI
young, has the germs of but three teeth
| Sometimes two of these become develop
ed and grow out spiked tusks, pointing il
| 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 informa-
| 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 is possessed of a valuable tooth.
OF daggers various we have many
specimens, more particularly amongst the
family of the Raiid9; and fearful weap-
ons they are, some of them being serrated
or barbed, and capable of inflicting terri
BILE lacerated wounds. In most of these
fish the dagger, or spine, is 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. II knows full
well, 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 a 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 market; and in this way
almost the only specimen of the eagle-ray
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 ma
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 may 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 u.s. But
there are not many instruments SO eff
cient for their purpose as the tooth of a
shark. 1t is difficult to handle one freely
without cutting ones fingers; and when
we consider the tremendous leverage of a
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 two
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 SEXES its prey, at all other
times lying fiat on their sides. 1t is now,
however, more generally admitted that
the shark only employs the outer row of
teeth, and that the inner ones are pro-
vision of nature against an accident
which is, and must be, 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 by 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
alW avs in order. The vOracity of the
shark forms an endless resource for the |
writers on the marvellous whose bent lies |
towards natural history. Whole ships |
crews have been devoured by sharks ere |
now, while their omnivorousness is extra |
ordinary. This is well eXemplified by |
the observation once made to me by an |
old tar, who was dilating on the variety
of objects he had found at one time or
another inside the bellies of sundry
Lord love ye, SIR" quo Ben,
there bain't nothin' as you mightn't ex-
pee to find in the insides o. a shirk, from
a 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 thIesher, or |
foX-shark (AIOpias guipes). The upper |
obe is tremendously elongated, being |
nearly as long as the body of the fish, |
and amazingly muscular. 1t is curved |
ike the blade of a scythc in shape, and |
the blows which it can and does infiict |
with this living fail can be heard at
great distance herd of dolphins is |
as though they were mere sprats |
by one stroke of the thresher's tail and |
stories of the combats between the whale |
on the one side and combination of |
threshers and sword-fish on tine other are |
too common to need more than refer |
ence here. The form of battle usually |
consists in the sword-fsh stabbing the |
whale from beneath, and so driving him |
up to the surface, when the fox-sharks
spring upon him, and with resonant |
blows from their fearful knouts drive him
below again upon the weapons of their
allies.
There are many other points of SINH |
larity which might be enlarged upon ]; but |
if one were to attempt to set down all |
the strange and various considerations
which come under cogniZance in this |
subject, they would soon swell the mat
ter much beyond the limits of a magazine
article. -Ffaser's Nagazine.
THE death of an old man at Mapping
rr's Falls, Duchess County, n. y, "a few |
DAYS ended n novel barr,iu in which