68 BULLETIN: MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 
has them ‘‘ proportionally longer,” these names were deservedly rejected 
by Cope as nomina nuda. 
A number of species have since been described by Leidy and Cope, all 
founded on more or less fragmentary remains such as detached vertebra, 
scales, and cranial fragments. The only one represented by a tolerably 
complete individual is Z. cuneatus (Cope) from the Miocene of Central 
Utah, the type of which is about 30 cm. in length. The remainder are 
characterized by A. S. Woodward in his Catalogue of Fossil Fishes as 
“all too imperfect for specific, and the majority even for generic deter- 
mination.” For instance, Leidy’s ZL. notabilis is founded on a single 
vertebral centrum, which may or may not be identical with those 
described by him as L. atrox. The type species of “ Clastes,” L. cycli- 
jerus (Cope), is founded on a few cranial bones and scales. There is 
still less reason for regarding “ Pneumatosteus” as a distinct genus, the 
type of P. nahunticus Cope being an opisthoceelous vertebral centrum 
from the Miocene of North Carolina. 
It is obvious from the foregoing that all the specific titles applied to 
fossil gars from this country, with the single exception of LZ. cuneatus, 
have had up to the present time only a provisional significance. They 
have stood at best for imperfectly definable fragments, which were in 
some cases with difficulty distinguished from one another. Thanks to 
the newly discovered material, however, we know what the complete 
fish in at least two species besides Z. cuneatus was like, and the cranial 
osteology of ‘the larger one is as readily decipherable as that of a recent 
gar. In all, four species are recognized from ee American Eocene, and 
two from the Miocene, as follows : — 
L. atror Leidy (= L. anax Cope). Middle Eocene; Wyoming. 
L. simplex Leidy. Middle Eocene; Wyoming. 
L. notahihs Leidy. Eocene; Wyoming. 
L. (Clastes) cycliferus (Cope). Eocene; Wyoming. 
L. (Clastes) cuneatus (Cope). Miocene; Central Utah. 
L. (Pneumatosteus) nahunticus (Cope). Miocene; North Carolina. 
Turning to the European representatives of this family, we find only 
seven or eight species, likewise founded on fragmentary remains such as 
scales, vertebree, cranial fragments, etc., but nowhere a complete skeleton. 
The range is from Lower Eocene to Lower Miocene, and the distribution 
sparse in various localities of England, France, and Germany. With 
pardonable pride, therefore, we may point out that the specimen im- 
mediately to be described is at once the largest and most perfect fossil 
