136 Mr NeilVs Account lyfa rare Fish 



more or less mutilated. Although the muscular parts had been 

 thoroughly salted, and were in general well preserved, yet the 

 heat of the summer had rendered the fatter portions soft, and 

 somewhat rancid ; and a good deal of oil exuded from these 

 parts. The flesh, where free of the oil, tasted not unlike ling ; 

 where tainted with the oil, it had the flavour of herring. Many 

 large scales had already dropt, as evinced by the scars left ;r and 

 in attempting to dry the skin^ the greater part of the remainder 

 of the body-scales fell away, those upon the head and opercula 

 only continuing firmly attached. An attempt to make a pre- 

 paration of the fish not having succeeded, and it having been 

 seen by Professor Jameson, Dr Fleming, and other naturalists, 



1 did not think of troubling the Society with any account of it. 

 As, however, it is an animal not well understood, and has not 

 yet been admitted into the British Fauna, it has been suggested 

 to me that some notice of it should be put upon record. 



I shall therefore, first, state the general characters and dimen- 

 sions, from notes taken in August 1820, when the specimen 

 came into my hands ; then give some particulars regarding the 

 capture of the fish, and its appearance when fresh, from infor- 

 mation derived from Shetland ; and, lastly, I shall briefly ad- 

 vert to the principal ichthyological writers who have described 

 and classified the animal 



1 . The total length of the fish, in a straight Hne, from the 

 tip of the snout to the extremity of the tail, was 5 feet 4 inches. 

 The depth of the body, in a straight line taken opposite to the 

 centre of the first dorsal fin (the fin being included, but not in 

 its expanded state), was 1 foot and | inch. The depth, in a 

 straight hne taken in front of the anal fin, was 9| inches ; and 

 the depth at the lower end of the second dorsal fin was 4| inches. 



The head was large in proportion to the body. The length, 

 in a straight Hne, from the tip of the snout to the posterior ex- 

 tremity of the operculum or gill-cover, was 1 foot 4 inches near- 

 ly ; the depth, in a straight line, taken at the centre of the oper- 

 cula, was 10 inches. The circumference at the centre of the 

 opercula, the sides of the head being laid loosely together, was 



2 feet 4 inches. 



When the dried sides of the body were laid loosely together, 

 the circurnference, at the centre of the first dorsal fin, was about 



