416 Zoological Society : — 



get dry like those of other fishes when taken out of the water ; and 

 if the moisture be absorbed, or they are wiped dry with a cloth, they 

 have such a power of secretion that they become instantly moist 

 again ; indeed it is scarcely possible to dry the surface while the fish 

 is living." — Loc. cit. 243. 



Dr. Hancock further observes, that a fish which he thinks is Lori- 

 carta pleistotnus "is not only furnished with the common appendages 

 for swimming, but also with four strong bony supporters, one attached 

 to each of the pectoral and belly fins (i. e. constituting the first ray 

 of each), by which the animal creeps on the bottom of the river, and 

 perhaps where there is little or no water, also being as it seems partly 

 amphibious." — Loc, cit. 243. 



From this account, it appears that the habits of these fish bear 

 very little relation to those of the Mud-fish. 



It is well known that many freshwater Mollusca which respire free 

 air, and I believe some of those which are furnished with pectiniform 

 gills for aquatic respiration, as Paludince and Valvatcc, in the warmer 

 climates, such as India, where the waters of the streams or ponds are 

 dried up, bury themselves in the mud to a considerable depth like 

 the Mud-fish, and like them remain in a torpid state until the return 

 of the rainy season. 



Sir William Jardine has described the kind of cocoon in the clay 

 in which the Mud-fish are brought to this country ; but I am in- 

 formed by Mr. Bartlett that the cavity is always furnished with a 

 small aperture opposite to where the nose of the animal is placed. 



In referring this animal to the class of Fishes, authors have laid 

 great stress on the fact of its being provided with a lateral line. 

 Thus M. Dumeril, in the last essay on the subject, notices the line, 

 "which is ramified on the sides of the head as in Chimera,^' over- 

 looking the fact that the Triton cristatus, the common Eft, has 

 similar lines on both the sides and head. He compares the gill-rays 

 and branchial aperture to that of Mormyrus and Cobitis, but they 

 are equally like those of Protonopsis ; and \\q compares the nostrils 

 to those of the Lamprey, overlooking the fact that the animal is 

 provided with nostrils communicating with the cavity of the mouth. 

 See Erp. Generale, ix. 213. 



I have been informed that this genus is found in other parts of 

 Africa, as Senegal, where it is called Tobal, and the White Nile, 

 from whence M. Armand sent specimens to the Paris Museum in 

 1843 ; and Dr. Peters found a species in Quillemanes, which Peters 

 and J. Miiller have called Rhinocryptes amphibia. 



In reply to a note I had addressed to him, I have received the 

 following interesting communication from Mr. Bartlett, who at the 

 same time informed me that he intended to have communicated it 

 to the next meeting of the Society : — 



" Crystal Palace, Sydenham, 



November 17th, 1856. 



"Dear Sir, — In reply to your note respecting the living Mud- 

 fish, I beg to say that in the month of .Time last I received from 



