The inhabitants of many parts of the African coasts worship the shark, and consider its stomach the road to heaven. Three or four times a year they row out and offer the shark poultry and goats to satisfy his appetite. This is not all; a child is once a year sacrificed to the monster, which has been specially fattened for this occasion from its birth to the age of ten. On the _fête_ day, the unfortunate little victim is bound to a post on a sandy point at low water; as the tide rises the sharks arrive. The child may shriek, and the mother may weep, but it is of no avail; even its own parent thinks that the horrible sacrifice will ensure her child’s entry into heaven. [Illustration: THE DOG‐FISH (_Acanthias vulgaris_).] The dog‐fish—from which we derive the skin known as _shagreen_, used for spectacle and other cases—the furious and voracious hammerhead, and the saw‐fish, belong to the same great order. The last named will attack any inhabitant of the deep whatever, and even dares to measure his strength with the whale. Its length is from twelve to fifteen feet, while its weapon of defence is sometimes as much as two yards in length. Occasionally it dashes itself against the side of a ship with such fury as to leave its sword broken in the timber. Of the fourth great order, _Ganoidea_, the sturgeon is the most prominent example. It is essentially a sea‐fish, although ascending rivers at stated periods, as does the salmon. It is particularly noticeable for the number of bony plates or scales on its back and belly. In the sea the sturgeon feeds on herrings, mackerel, and other fish; in the rivers on salmon. It is caught in traps, or in nets. The prepared roe, cleaned, washed in vinegar, and partially dried, is the caviare of the Russians. The eggs of a female sturgeon will weigh over one‐third of its entire body, and as they sometimes reach a weight of nearly 3,000 pounds, the preparation of caviare becomes an important and profitable industry. [Illustration: THE GLOBE‐FISH (_Tetrodon_) AND SUN‐FISH (_Orthagoriscus mola_).] [Illustration: THE PIPE FISH (_Syngnathus acus_).] The fifth order, _Teleostea_, or bony fishes, constitutes a lengthy series. Among it must be placed the globular and phosphorescent sun‐fish, the spiny globe‐fish, the bony trunk‐fish, and the cuirassed pipe‐fish, the sea‐horse, which has a head not unlike a horse, and floats vertically, the flying‐fish, the eels, herrings, salmon, carp, cod, flat‐fish, mullets, tunnies, and others too numerous to mention. It is for man’s purposes the most important of all the orders. [Illustration: THE FLYING‐FISH (_Exocœtus exiliens_.)]