Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1916-08-04
SOME SHARKS 70 FEET LONG.
But This Variety Is Usually Harmless
Unless Aroused to Fury-Man Eat
ers that Swallow Men Whole.

ing sharks along the Atlantic seaboard
lend an especially timely interest to a
communication from DIR. Hugh NJ.
Smith, the foremost American author
ity on fishes, addressed to the National
Geographic Society of Washington and
released yesterday as n bulletin.
"Whcn 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 n dozen
which are prc-cminent. These differ
much in their disposition, some being
as harmless as doves and others the in
carnation of fcrocty.
"The sleeper shark (Sommiosus mi
choccphauls), whose scientific name
fits it so admirably, appears TO have
developed its body at the expense of
its brain, for it is a sluggish, stupid
glutton, about six times as long as an
average man. At home in the Arctic
regions, it sometimes makes visits as
far south as Cape Cod, the British Isles
and Oregon. 1t is most often observed
lying quietly on the surface, apparent
ly doing and easily approached, but
at times, when hungry, it rouses itself
and iiercely attacks 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 with
out seeming to take any notice.
cone of the most prodigious and
perhaps the most formidable Of sharks
is the 'man-cater' (Carcharodn car
charias). 1t roams through all temper
ate and tropical seas and everywhere
is an object of dread. Its maximum
length is 40 feet and its teeth are three
inches long. While there are few au-
thentic instances of sharks attac king
human beings prior to the recent trag
cdies, there have undoubtedly been
many cases where sharks simply swal-
lowed people who had fallen overheard.
Just as they would swallow any other
food. How easy it would be for a man
eater to dcvour a person whole may be
judged from the finding of an entire
l0O-pound sealion in the stomach of
a 30foot shark on the California coast.
a certain man-eater 3Gh feet long
had jaws 90 inches wide, inside meas
urc, and teeth, two and one half inches
long. This may have been the great
fish of the 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 bottom, and these are be-
licved by naturalists to have belonged
to sharks not long dead. The phos-
phatc beds of South Carolina Weld
LOO Il, IL.
was related to the man-eater of the
present day; Judging from the compa-
rative size of these teeth, Professor
Goode thought that sharks 20 or 80 feet
long must have been common.
Many years ago a Norwegian Dish
op in learned paper brought to the at
tcntion of the scientific and theological
) worlds n shark which he attempted tc
prove must have been the great fish
, that swallowed Jonah. This was the
basking shark (Cetcrhinus maximus)
known also as the elephant or bone
shark, which is an inhabitant of the
polar seas, but occasionally strays as
far south as Virginia and California, and
i'll former years was not rare on the
United States and British coasts. The
species has the habit at times of col
Letting in schools at the surface and
, basking in the sun with its back part
" out of water. 1t reaches maximum
length of 80 feet and is exceeded in
size by only three or four animals eX-
tant Provided with small teeth, it
feeds on fishes and floating crusta-
cCans, and is not of a ferocious dispO-
. sition. 1t is dangerous only by virtue
of its great bulk and when attacked
its POWERFUL tail easily dcmoishcs
boats. In former years the basking
e shark was hunted for its oil on the
p coast of Norway and Ireland; it was al
so harpooncd on the shore of Massa
= chusetts in the early part of the last
century, and as many as - barrels OF
c oil were sometimes obtained from the
:. liver of one shark. There are many
= records of basking sharks 20 to 3s feet
! long from the coast of New York, Mas
sachusetts and Maine, but the species
has not been common in our waters in
recent years.
'"Thc largest of all fishes, the largest
k of all cold-b loodcd animals, and the
largest of all existing animals, with the
T. exception of few species of whales
is the whale shark (Rhincodon typicus1
h originally described from Good Hope
but now known from India. South
i America, Panama, California and vari
Gus other places, small specimen hav
ing been obtained on the Florida coast
- "A few years ago. This shark has i
very broad and obtusc snout and an eX
: ceedingly wide mouth armed with nu
+ mcrous minute teeth; the dark colorcd
body is marked with many small whit
e, ish spots. The species is stated to at
It tain length of 20 feet and is known
to exceed 80 feet. Notwithstanding its
S immense size, however. it is harmless
5 to man unless attacked, and feeds on
the small creatures for which its small
teeth are adapted. Its huge bulk
!. makes it dangerous in the same way
that whale is dangerous. Years age
it was reported that the sperm whale
. fishermen at the island of St. Denis, il
V the Indian ocean, dreaded to harpoon
"A whale shark by mistake, and stories
are told of harpooned fish, "having
\ by a lightning-like dive exhausted the
supply of rope which had been acct