The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-12-05

skin of this species. The skin OF the
blue dogfish of Europe is made to serve
in lieu of emery paper. In India shark
oil is employed as all illuminant, and an
imitation of tortoise shell Is made Ill
Japan from shark bones. The back
bones are sometimes converted into
walking sticks. In the islands of the
trinkets aad for arming weapons, while
the Eskimo make rude tiaras from the
jaws of these fishes.
The man eating fish par excellence Is
the great white shark. 1t is otherwise
known by the name of Inan-eater. Oc-
coasts of the United States, though its
more customary habitat ia In tropical
waters. This frightful creature attatns
length of nearly forty feet, and Is able
TO swallow a man whole. This fact Is
proved by an experiment. which sailors
are fond of making when such sharS
Is captured. The skull being preserved,
they amuse themselves by crawling one
after another through the dlstenoeu
Jaws. 1t would be unsafe to do this,
however, when the head has been freshly
cut off, because under such condltlons
the Jaws will snap together feroely for
some time afterward If anything lie
placed between them The skull of big
shark, by the way, Is always salaole.
owing to the demand by inuseu ms and
curiosity hunters. A yourg sea lion,
weighing one hundred pounds, has been
found in the stomach of white shark.
A valuable species Of shark. known as
the Greenland shark, frequents in great
mum bers the banks off the west coast OF
Norway, and MS far north as North Cape.
1t is met with all over the North Sen
and the Arctic Ocean. 1t maintains
lucrative fishery, which is pursued by
small sailing vessels on the banks. These
craft lie at anchor in $50 or eco fathons
of water, with canvas bag containing
refuse blu bber attached to the anchor
line near the bottom. The oil oozes out
thtrugh the bag in a continuous stream.
which ia followed up from great dis
tance by any sharks TINT may chance to
come across it. Thus the sharks are at
tracted to ths main bait, which is
fastened to great hook OH the end OF
thin iron chain attached to a line as
thick as the stem of pipe The bait is
a chunk of seal blub5er weighing about
a pound Fish is sometimes used in
stead, but it is not 60 good.
The blubber thus employed is what re-
mains after oil has been extracted from
it. 1t is obtained from seals caught at
Spitz bergen, and about five barrels OF
tine bait are used by vessel in season.
The shark on being hooked is dragged
to ths surface. and the coup de grace is
given by q low on the nose with club
1t is then lifted upon the deck, the belly
is cut open. and the liver ia tnken out.
A hole ia made in the stomach, which
is Inflated and tied up; then the oaroiss
IL Permitted to float away. The fisher
men have notion that the fishing would
be injured If it were permitted to sink.
Several sharks often come to the surface
in the wake of one that has been HOOK
ed, and 1t is easy to capture them with
zatfs. These sharks are from tan to
eighteen feet long, and yisld from ten to
fifteen gallons of first class "cod liver
OIL"
P. l.. Simmonds, to whose work on
commercial products of the sea the writer
is much indebted, says that the Green
land sharks are sometimes towed ashore.
in order that their flesh may be- convert
ed into food for cattle. Occasionally they
are utilized for human food, being cut
in strips and wind dried CT else buried IN
the ground until partly decomposed,
when the meat Is taken up and prepared
in a peculiar manner. To digest this
interesting dish is said to require an
Arctic stomach. There is kind of
dozfish on the Norway coast which lays
eggs, and the yolks of these eggs are
used by poor people, instead of hens
eggs. Most sharks bring forth their
young alive, but some lay eggs, and a
few species are ovo-viviparous-i. e..
produce eggs which contain living
young.
The Kind of shark whose jaws are made
by the Eskimo into tiaras is the Sleeper,
OF Nurse shark. 1t is twenty-five feet
long, and is found on both coasts of the
United States. 1t is very ferocious, and
will undou btedly attack man. This
species is a determined enemy of the
whale. biting great pieces out Of the flesh
of its cetacean victim. Another very dan
gerous shark is tho Tier shark, which is
even larger and proportionately fierce.
1t is brown in color, with dark spots.
1t is terrible foe to whales. frequent
ly specime are seen Oft our shores, as
far north as Cape Cod. Mass. and San
Diego, CAL The Leopard shark reaches
a length of twenty feet; it is yellow with
brownish spots. The Thresher gets It's
name from its mode of attacking the
whale, which it lashes with its tall. 1t
is thirty feet long, and its enormous tall
Is half the length of it's body. The Sand
shark is common on the Atlantic coast
and ex traordinarily voracious, though
only five feet long. 1t hugs the sandy
bottoms Of bays.
Practically all Of the large sharks Ut
the world frequent our own waters more