Shark

a voracious fish of the deep sea. Sharks in an arm of the sea are as active, as destructive, and ever-hungry as pickerel in a small pond. The common man-eating or white shark of the Mediterranean and other warm waters attains a length of fifteen to twenty feet, and in extreme cases over thirty feet. Its snout projects over its mouth. Its jaws are fitted with formidable, triangular teeth two inches long. The two jaws close together like immense saws. The teeth of one fit the depressions of the other, and not only that, but there are six rows in the upper jaw and four in the lower. The shark has a full set of fins and a forked tail. It will follow a ship for days for the sake of the offal thrown overboard. Sharks are exceedingly dangerous in certain waters. A man lost overboard or caught swimming is likely to be cut in two by a single snap of those ponderous saw-like jaws before help can reach him.

Sailing ships lying becalmed or moving slowly in tropical waters offer opportunity for fine sport,--shark fishing. A large hook is baited with a piece of meat and thrown out astern with a chain for a fishing line, for the shark would cut the strongest cable. If the shark bites he is hauled aboard with a capstan and is chopped into pieces. Sailors insist that a "man-eating" shark is accompanied by a mackerel-like "pilot" fish, sometimes by several, who aim to keep him from harm and are distressed when he comes to grief.

The shark family is a large one. There are 150 species. Most of them are from two to eight feet long and are harmless. The Greenland shark attacks whales. A host of dogfishes--small sharks--pursue the shoals of mackerel and other food fishes. The hammer-head is a natural curiosity. The cheeks are extended enormously, giving the head the shape of a carpenter's wooden mallet. The two eyes are in the ends or hammer faces of the mallet, twenty inches apart. The hide of the shark is without scales but it is covered with flinty points. It makes an excellent substitute for sandpaper.