The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-07-17

sS Hugh N. Smith, the foremost AmeFl-
can authority on fishes, addressed 10
VI The National Geographic society ana
released as bulletin.
sa when giant fishes arc mentioned
4 nsost people will at once think of the
shark, among which. indeed. are found
the largest fsh now existing writes
4 Mr.. Smith "Of the MANI species "i
a sharks noteworthy on account OF their
Utxe there are ahout half dozen " hI' y
are pre-eminent. These differ mu,
Z IN their disposition, some being az
y harmless as doves ana others the IN
& cArnafion Of fecoCity
Six Times ~ Large as Man.
"The sleeper shark Som asus ui-
81 cxocsphalus), whose scieEJGc mama
ats II SO admirably. appears TO have
deveioped It's body al the expense Of
Il its brain, for Il Is "a eSissgish- stupid
elutton, about SIX tinas as long as
an average man, A. home in the
arctic regions, II som etlrnes makes
visits ms far south as Cape Cod, tho
British Isles and Oregon, II IL most
oftsn observed lying quietly on the
surface, apparently doing and ~
approached, but at times. when hun
gry, Il rouses Itself. and feTCely at
tacks whales. biting huge pieces out
OF their sides and tails and when
feeding on the carcass Of whale which
has been killed by hunters 81 is 50
voracious that it permits spears and
knives TO be thrust into Il without
seeming 10 take any notice.
Man Eater Most Formidable
zone Of the most prodiFtous and
perhaps the most formidable Of sharks
Ia the 'nIan-eater' (Careharodon cab
charias). It roams through eli tenn
perate ana tropical seas and every
where IS AT object O: dread. It's
maximum length is forty feet and ITS
teeth are three inches long While
there are few authentic instances ~
sharks attacking human beings prior
TO the recent tragedy. there have ur-
doubtediy been mary cases where
sharks simply swallowed people who
had fallen overheard. Just as they
would swallow any other food How
easy II would be for man-rnter -
devour n person whole may be Judged
from the finding OF an entire hundred
pound sea lion in the stomach OF .
thirty foot shark on the Calforn5a
coast certain msn-eater thirty-slI
and one-hslf feet long had jaws TWEEN
ty inches wide inside measure. arr
teeth two and one-half inches long
This may have been the great fish
Il OF the Scripture narrative, and IL 4
possible that at that time much large
man-eaters existed than are nov
known. as shark teeth with cutting
edges five inches long have been fount
on the sen bottom and these are be
iieved by naturalistn to have belonged
to sharks not long dead Tho phos
phate beds Of South Carolina yiel(
very large fossil teeth Of a shark which
was related to the man-eater Of tn
present day. judging from the com
parative size OF these teeth Prot
Goode thought that 'rks seventy O
" eighty feet long must NAVE been com
mon
"Grcat Fish" That Swallowed JONAH
MANY wears ago a Norwegian bish
op in learned paper brought to tn
attention OF the scientific and thee
logical worlds n shark which he al
tempted to prove must have been III
great FISH that swallowed Jonah
This was the Barking shark CCetor
linus maximus), known also as In
elephant or bone shark, which Is a
inhabitant Of the polar seas. but oc
casionally strays as far south as Vii
riria or California. and in -f0fme
wears was not rare in the Unite
States and British coasts The spe
cies has the habit at times of co
iecting in schools at the surface an
basktng in the sun with its back part
ly out of water. II reaches a max.
s mum length of about nifty feet and
exceeded in size by only three or fou
animals extant. Provided with grna
teeth, il feeds on Ashes and noatfu
crustaceans. ana ts not Of a ferogtou
disposition.
ut is dangerous only hv virtue e
Its great hulk and when attacS-d f,
powerful tail easily denlolshey boat,
In former years the basklng shar
was hunted for its oil on Tie GOA.
OF Norway and Ireland. II also W.
harpooned on the shore Of Massachu
RI sets In the early part Of HE last cen
tury. and as many as twelve barrel
& Of oil were sometimes obtained fror
the liver of one shark There or
many records of hasklus sharks TWEEN
ty-five TO thirty-eight feet long frot
the coast Of New York. sachi,s,tt
and Maine. but tho etrriaa has M
been common incur waters In rccor
years
Largest of All
THE Iarees, Of an fishes The Iare
est OF all cold-hlooded animals an
the largest Of all existing animal
n 3, @nait txpi is she %nr Ioa[H
from Good Hope. bur now know