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SHANNY 372 SHARK Banagher the river has first a S. W. and then a S. course, till, a little above the city of Limerick, it divides into two branches, which, flowing round King's Island, the most ancient part of the city, unite below to form the Lower Shannon. From its rise in Cavan to its encircling the King's Island, the river has a length of 180 miles. In this course the river is greatly interrupted by shallows, falls, and rocks. The Lower Shannon, from Limerick to the mouth of its estuary in the Atlantic, has a length of 40 miles and a breadth of from 1 to 7 miles; though the channel in places is obstructed by islands, rocks, and shoals. It has, however, good anchorage everywhere, and forms a harbor of refuge for ships against the force of W. gales. SHANNY, or SHAN, a fish, the Blen- nhi8 pholius, sometimes called the smooth blenny. It is about four inches long, olive-green, with irregular black spots. There is no crest-like appendage on the head, and the notched dorsal is not con- tinuous with the caudal fin. The incisors are long, and serve to detach limpets and mussels from the rocks. The shanny will endure fresh water for a short time, and will live for many days out of water in places if the ground is moist. SHANSI, an inland province of north- ern China; area, 81,830 square miles; pop. about 10,000,000. It is the original seat of the Chinese people, and in its lowland parts is well cultivated. The rivers, which are almost all tributaries of the Yellow river, are numerous, but not large. The chief grain crops are wheat and millet, and there are coal, iron, copper, and other minerals. Capital, Tai-yuen-foo. SHAN STATES, a number of tributary States in Indo-China, between Munnipur on the W. and Yunnan on the E., and from the parallel of lat. 24° N. S. to Bangkok and Cambodia. Of these the Northern States are tributary to Burma, and the Southern to Siam. A great por- tion of the mountainous region of these States is called the Laos Country, and is inhabited toward the N. by the Black- bellies, so called from the circumstance that they tattoo themselves with figures in ink, and in the S. by the White-bellies, who do not tattoo. Xiengmai, the capital of Laos, stands on a wide plain on the Meinam, 500 miles N. of Bangkok, and is said to contain 50,000 inhabitants. The number of Laocians included in Siam alone is estimated at 1,000,000. They are meek, gentle, unwarlike, and superstitious. Their chief employment is agriculture; and in religion they are Buddhists. SHANTUNG, a maritime province of China; on the Yellow Sea; area, 55,970 square miles; pop. 25,810,000. The chief river is the Yellow river, which, after traversing the province in a N. E. direc- tion, flows into the Gulf of Peh-chih-li. Wheat, millet, and indigo are the chief products, and the manufactures include silk, hempen cloths, felt, etc. It was in this province that Confucius was born. This province contains the important har- bors of Chef oo and Wei-hai-wei. See China. SHAPINSHAY, one of the Orkney Islands of Scotland, between the islands of Stronsay and Pomona. It is about 4% miles long and 4 miles broad; area, 6,733 acres, of which nine-tenths are under cultivation, and yield excellent crops of grain. The surface is generally flat, but at one point rises to the height of 162 feet. SHABI, a large river in Central Afri- ca, which enters the S. side of Lake Tchad by several mouths after a course of about 1,400 miles from the S. E. See Tchad, Lake. SHARK, an English popular name for any individual of the group Selachoidei. The body is generally elongated; the muzzle, on the under side of which the nostrils are placed, projects over the BLUE SHARK mouth, and the males have claspers (with the function of intermittent organs) at- tached to the ventral fins. The ova are large and few in number, impregnated, and in some genera developed, within an uterine cavity; in others deposited in a tough, horny case, from which the young fish, carrying a yolk-bag, for its nourish- ment till it is able to seek food, is dis- charged; in this stage the gill-laminae are prolonged into filaments projecting be- yond the gill-cavities, but these are soon absorbed. The teeth are generally large,