large a heart such a fish has, I cut into the diaphragm and extracted the heart. This organ, I found, was about the size of an egg—rather small, I thought, for so large a fish. The curious thing about it was that it continued to pulsate after I had taken it from the fish. It beat regularly for a minute or more, lying there in my hand. When it stopped beating I pricked it with the knife, and it again, pulsated for a short time. It was perfectly-empty of blood.
“Meantime the pilot and others pitched the seven-foot shark off the wharf, and it sank to the bottom. We could see it plainly through the clear water. They then took the smaller shark, all of whose internal organs I had removed and whose heart I held in my hand, and threw it into the water. You can judge of our surprise to see that shark swish its tail around and flap its fins from side to side, and then swim briskly away until it disappeared.”
“It went with the current?”
“Yes; but it was swimming. We all saw it as plainly as could be. The other shark sank like a shot; this one swam straight away as naturally as any fish.”
“Was the fish apparently dead when you cut it up?”
“Yes. It did not make a single move all the time I was cutting it. The way that dissected fish did beats anything I ever heard of or ever imagined. We could see it for twenty or thirty yards as it swam away. It made the pilots down there open their eyes, I assure you.”
From— The Morning Call. (San Francisco [Calif.]), 25 May 1891.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
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