Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/70

* SHAN-TXTNG. 54 SHARK. of these mountains lie the Shan-tung portions of the great alluvial plain of North China ; while east and southeast of the mountains, and through- out the promontory, are many fertile valleys and small plains. As a rule these mountains are des- titute of forests. The province is well watered, though its lakes are few and small, and there are no rivers of importance except th? Hoangho, which traverses the great plain in the west and north. The Grand Canal runs through the whole province from north to soutli. The fertile loess deposit is found in several places, and agri- culture flourishes. The crops include some cot- ton, very little rice, but much tobacco, indigo, wlieat, barley, maize, millet, pulse, peanuts, ancl vegetables. The fruits are of almost all kinds. Silk is an important product, the chief seat of which is Yen-chow, on the great plain ; and pongee, the spun-silk fabric derived from the cocoons of the wild silkworm, is much exported to foreign countries. The finest brocaded silk is woven near Tsi-nan-fu, the capital. Straw- plaiting is an important industry, and much in- sect wax is produced. The fauna includes wolves, badgers, foxes, several species of poisonous snakes, scorpions, etc., and among the birds pheasants, partridges, wild ducks and turkeys, IManchurian cranes, etc. The surrounding waters as well as the rivers teem with fish. Shan-tung is especially rich in minerals. Coal and iron aboimd, and gold, ga- lena, copper, antimony, marble, granite, asbestos, and sulphur are abundant. There are four great coal-fields. The coast line is about 750 miles. There are many good harbors. The chief are : on the north coast, Yang-kia-k'ow, at the mouth of the Little Tsin Eiver (canalized in 1891 and ex- tended westward to Tsi-nan-fu), a few miles south of the mouth of the Hoang-ho (which now occupies the channel of the Great Tsin River) ; Chi-fu (q.v.), a treaty port; Wei-hai-wei, now controlled by Great Britain, and on the south coast Shi-tao and Tsing-tao on the southwest cor- ner of the Lao-shan peninsula, now controlled by Germany. (See ICiao-ch.4U. ) The climate is healthful throughout. The rainy season lasts six weeks, and occurs in June and July. The snow- fall is heavy, and the harbors on the north coast are frequently lilocked with ice. The temperature ranges from 20° F. below zero to 60° F. above. Shan-tung is noted as containing the birth- places of both Confucius and Mencius (qq.v.) and has played an important part in the history of the country. Population, .30.000.000. Railways have been introduced by the Germans and extend from the new port of Tsing-tao north- ward to Wei-hien. and westward toward Tsi-nan- fu (q.v.), and beyond, meeting at two diflfei-ent points the projected Anglo-German line from Tientsin to Chin-kiang-fu (q.v.). SHAKEHOLDEB. See Stockholdeb. SHARI, sha're. A river of North Central Africa, the principal feeder of Lake Chad. Its numerous headstreams drain an extensive but largely unexplored region of the Sudan. The chief of these is the Bamingi. Its largest tribu- tary is the Logone, which enters the main stream from the left. In its lower course the Shari forms the boundary between Kamerun and Ba- girmi, and is navigable from Mafifaling to Gulfey, a distance of 186 miles. SHARK (probably from Lat. carcharus, from Gk. Kapxaplas, karcharias, sort of shark, from Kdpx"/""' karcharos, jagged; connected with xap- kIvo!, kuikinos, Skt. karkata, crab, karkara, hard). The name given to such elasmobranch TYPES OP SHAKK TEETQ. 1, plain-edged cusps : 2, serrated cusps. fishes (see ELASMOBRAMcnil) as have their gill- openings lateral instead of ventral, as in the skates (Batoidea). The body is nearly always elongate, tapering gradually to the tail and not much thickened in the middle. The muzzle pro- jects over the mouth; the nostrils are situated on the under side of the muzzle. The males have claspers. There are usually two dorsal fins, hut in the small order of notidanoid sharks there is only a single one. The gill-openings are five, excepting in the cow sharks where there are six or seven. The skin has no scales, but minute denticles, much resembling teeth in their develop- ment and structure. The teeth are generally large, sharp, and formed for cutting, with the edge often serrated. In the cestracionts (q.v.) they are pavement-like, and in some genera are small and numerous. ■ As the rows of teeth on the ridge of the jaw are worn away they are continually replaced by new series. The teeth of sharks are dermal structures never ankylosed to the jaw or to any other skeletal part, but are imbedded in a tough fibrous membrane and are arranged in concen- tric rows. The row of denticles that occupies the border of the jaw is erect. Adjacent rows are only partially erect, while those behind lie recumbent. The fibrous gum moves up and out- ward over the surface of the jaw and carries each successive row of teeth to a functional posi- tion on the jaw. When a row of teeth has passed this point the teeth fall out. This fact accounts for the great number of shark's teeth which are preserved in geological deposits, for each shark during its life casts off a great many teeth. Both in form and structure the dermal spines on the external skin of certain sharks cannot be distinguished from the spines that oc- cur in the mouth and function as teeth. Most sharks are carnivorous and voracious, some of them taking objects as large as man. Some live on small marine organisms and a few are herbivorous. Some species are ovoviviparous ; others lay eggs. The eggs are large in compari- son with those of osseous fishes, and are square or oblong in form, with a tough horny coat, each corner prolonged into a tendril, apparently of use for their entanglement among seaweeds to prevent being thrown about. In some of the vivip- arous species the embryo is attached to the walls of the uterus by a sort of placenta. Sharks