A Whale-thrasher

All day Saturday a crowd of people stood at C. A. Lewis's flsh-stall m Washington Market looking at a Btrange lish which lay stretched out at full length - a good 15 feet. It was what fishermen cali a"whale-thrasher" or "wliip-tail shark," or sea fox. It was rin ugly thing to look at. lts blunt nose was very mucli like a shark's, and lts long, slender tail like a boa-constructor. It had a uniform color from Dhe end of its nose to the tip of its tail, and that was very dark brown, almost black. Mr. Lewis said he had been in the fish business flfteen years and this was the flrst time he had ever seen sucli an object in Washington Market. The "thrasher" was caught in a"pound" net in Wood's Hole, aplace some miles sonth of Cape Cod. When the iishermen found him in their net he was "thrashing" about at a tremendous rate, and they speared him as quickly as possible to save their net. The fish was brought to this city by Captain Luce, of the schooner Martha.who sold him to Mr. Lewis. He is not good to eat except in case of necessity' or mercy. His wife is viviparous, and theref ore he isn't a fish. The specimen now in port has no lungs, according to "Tom," the man who dissected him yesterday, but makes up in liver what it lacked in that respect. His liver weighed forty-four pounds, the weight of the whole animal being abouc 500 odunds. "Tom," a man who has had a fish experience of twenty-five years in Fulton and Washington markets, tackled the thrasher about 9 o'clock last evening, and it took him j ust an hour to dress him in such a way as to make him fit to be operated on and prepared for the museum. Mr. Lewis said that during the day an old whaler had ealled to see the "thrasher" and to teil stories about fights of thrashers and whales. Generally, he said, which every school-boy will avouch, there were two or three sword-fishes under the whale's belly "to stir him up," while the thrashers swarmed around and delivered their blows right and left until the whale rolled over, put out his tongue and died. Just as the whale was dying a fisli ealled the "killer," which was never seen at any after time, appeared and began to knaw fiercely at the whale's