The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-07-27
wv ASHINGTON, July 26-(Special,,
M The tragic depredations of man.
w eating sharks along the Allan

wv ASHlNGTON, July 26.-(Speclal,,
M The tragic depredations of man.
w eating sharks along the Allan
tic seaboard lend an especially
timely interest to a communication from
DR.. Hugh M. Smith, the foremost Ameri-
can authority on fishes, addressed to the
National Geographic society and released
today as bulletin.
When giant fishes are mentioned most
people will at once think of the shark,
among which. indeed, are found the
largest fish now existing writes Mr..
Smith. "Of the many species of sharks
noteworthy on account of their size
there are about half dozen which are
disposition. some being as harmless as
doves and others the incarnation of fe-
rocity.
1.-THE sleeper shark whose scientific
name fits it so admirably, appears to
have developed it's body at the expense
Of its brain, for it is sluggish, stupid
glutton, about six times as long as an
average man. At home in the Arctic re-
gions, it sometimes makes visits as far
oOOIA 1o SdPO W. tfiC 1lltlSIl lSlSS, dilu
Oregon 1t is most often observed lying
quietly on the surface, apparently doing
and easily approached. but at times when
hungry it rouses itself and fiercely at
'ecks whales, biting huge pieces out of
their sides and tails, and when feeding
on the carcass of a whale which has been
killed by hunters it is so voracious that
it permits spears and knives to be thrust
into it without seeming to take any no
tice.
"One Of the most prodigious and per-
haps the most formidable of sharks is
the 'man-eater' (Carcharoodon caro-
harias) 1t roams through all temperate
and tropical seas and everywhere is an
object of dread. It's maximum length is
40 feet and and it's teeth are three inches
long. While there are few authentic in
stances of sharks attacking human be-
ings (prior to the recent tragedies), there
sharks simply swallowed people who ha6
fallen overheard, just as they would swal-
low any other food. How easy it would
be for man-eater to devour a person
whole may be judged from the finding Of
an entire hundred-pound sea lion in the
stomach of 30-foot shark on the Cali.
fornia coast A certain man-eater 361.
feet long had jaws 20 inches wide, inside
measure, and teeth ~ inches long. This
may have been the great fish of tbs
scripture narrative. and it is possible
| that at that time much larger man
eaters existed than are now known, as
shark teeth with cutting edges five inches
long have been found on the sea bot
tom. and these are believed by naturalists
to have belonged to sharks not long dead
The phosphate beds Of South Carolina
yield very large fossil teeth Of shark
which was related to the man-eater OF
the present day; judging from the com
parative size of these teeth. Professor
Goode thought that sharks 70 or 80 fee,
Hong must have been common.
MANY years ago a Norwegian bishop
| in learned paper brought to the atten
ton of the scientific and theological
worlds a shark which he attempted t.
prove must have been the great FISH thai
swallowed Jonah This was the baskint
Eshark (Cetorhinus maximus). known alst
as the elephant or bone shark, which u