Sharks of the south of Asia are a regular article of trade for the market of China, where they are prized for their restorative qualities. They are sought for from every maritime country between the Arabian Gulf and the East Indian Islands.
The shark film of commerce are not exclusively selected from sharks (Squali), but equally from Raim. Quantities examined at Penang were composed of fins of the genera Stegostoma, Carcharias, Sphyrna, Pristis, Rhinobatus, Tiygon, aud Myliobatis. But of all fishes, sharks and rays are the most valued by the Chinese. The fish arid entrails of all, not even the electric rays (Torpedinidem) excepted, are eaten either fresh or dried. The skin is used for polishing, or converted into shagreen. Gelatine is ob tained from the larger fins, glue from the smaller. All, except the caudal fins, are cut at the root so as to leave as little flesh as possible. The root is dipped in wetted lime (chunam), in the erroneous lc belief of preventing att -1,.. of insects, and then the fins are dried in the Those imported in the Straits Settlements are acked promiscuously in gunny bags, each containing from one-half to one pikul. According to the value in the Chinese
market, the fishmongers assort the fins in two kinds, white and black. Tile white consists ex clusively of the dorsal fins, which aro on both sides of a uniform light colour, and reputed to yield more gelatine than the other fillB. China, the lovers of gelatinous soups pay from 30 to 40 Spanish dollars per pikul for white fins. The pectoral, ventral, and anal fins pasa under the denomination of black fins. The colour, how ever, varies, according to the species, from buff to grey or brown, and most of them are of two different colours, the upper surface being dark, the lower light. The black fins, for obvious reasons the most numerous, are supposed to yield a comparatively small quantity of gelatine, and Hell in China from 15 to 20 Spanish dollars per pikul.Jforitgomery, p. 422 ; Tennent's Ceylou, p. 325 ; Keppel's hal. Ara. p. 205 ; Low's Sarawak, p. 89 ; Bombay Monthly Times; Royle on Isinglass.