[Illustration: SWORD FISH SPEARING HIS PREY.]
The Sword-fish, so called from the upper jaw being elongated into a
formidable spear or sword, was known to the ancients, and has borne this
name which recalls its important characteristic, from very early times.
And while the Saw-fish, which belongs to the group of Cartilaginous
Fishes, and a species of Sword-whale, have also been known as
Sword-fishes, this species—scientifically known as Xiphias gladius—is
the real, and the original Sword-fish.
This Fish attains a great size, being found in the Mediterranean and
Atlantic from five to six feet in length. Its body is covered with
minute scales, the sword forming three-tenths of its length. On the back
it bears a single long dorsal fin; the tail is keeled, the lower jaw is
sharp, the mouth toothless, the upper part of the Fish bluish-black,
merging into silver beneath.
It seems to have a natural desire to exercise towards and against all
the arm with which nature has furnished it; it darts with the utmost
fury upon the most formidable moving bodies; it attacks the Whale; and
there are numerous and well authenticated instances of ships being
perforated by the jaw of this powerful creature, while the toothed spear
of the Saw-fish has been found fast in the body of a Whale which it has
pierced.
In 1725, some carpenters having occasion to examine the bottom of a
ship, which had just returned from the Tropical seas, found the lance of
a Sword-fish buried deep in the timbers of the ship. They declared that,
to drive a pointed bolt of iron of the same size and form to the same
depth, would require eight or nine blows of a hammer weighing thirty
pounds. From the position of the weapon it was evident that the Fish had
followed the ship while under full sail; it had penetrated through the
metal sheathing, and three inches and a half beyond, into the solid
frame.
The Sword-fish has obstinate combats with the Saw-fish, and even the
Shark, and it is supposed that when he attacks the bottom of a vessel he
takes that sombre mass for the body of an enemy.