196 Transactions. — ZoologTj. 



finger passed along them discovers only the very finest skin- 

 granulations. Above the uppermost of these bars, and sepa- 

 rated by a smooth interspace, a broader tuberculated band 

 extends up to the base of the dorsal fin. The tubercles in 

 this band are not so rough as on the lateral bars. Towards 

 the tail, and at a few feet anterior to it, these bars become 

 lost, and exchange their dark colour for a silvery-white. The 

 second, which is the most prominent of all, runs furthest 

 along the body, and is finally lost at 2ft. from the tail, when 

 the tuberculations entirely cease, and the rest of the body is 

 soft and glistening. The first true bar and the sub-dorsal-fin 

 band pass forward, which is not the case with the others, and 

 terminate on the front of the head above the anterior margin 

 of the eye. The lateral line cuts the second, third, and fourth 

 true bar (or ridge) a little posterior to the hind margin of the 

 operculum, while the fifth follows the lateral line for a great 

 part of its length. The ventral surface is very roughly tuber- 

 culated — rougher than any other part of the body, the 

 tubercles presenting a suspicion of points. Behind the anus 

 this surface is very dark-coloured, and was probably black in 

 the living fish. 



Mr. "Warnes was good enough to give me the entrails, 

 which, for the better preservation of the fish, he had removed 

 from the body. These organs were not entirely complete, 

 but they agree so closely with those figured by Hancock and 

 Embleton in the " Annals and Magazine of Natural History " 

 as to require no further description except in regard to the 

 liver, which must arrest the attention of any one opening the 

 body of Begalecus by its rich-pink colour. This organ w^as 

 very tender and friable when it reached my hands. In form 

 it differed considerably from the figure I have referred to. On 

 its upper surface, partially dividing it into two unequal por- 

 tions, lies a deep fissure, in which are the hepatic and other 

 vessels. The right portion has its lower fourth separated into 

 a distinct lobe ; and on the left portion occurs, on its external 

 margin, a small lobule. The anterior ends of the two main 

 portions are pointed, but towards the posterior end the liver 

 is thicker and bluntly rounded. From this organ, when 

 placed in spirit, escaped a very large quantity of a deep- 

 salmon-coloured oil. In the ovaria there were very minute 

 ova; but, as in all the other specimens hitherto examined, 

 these were unimpregnated, as the winter is evidently not their 

 breeding-season. 



The food in the stomach consisted of finely-comminuted 

 matter, entirely structureless under the microscope. In the 

 oesophagus a gelatinous glairy fluid was found, mingled with 

 a quantity of very fine grey sand. It is probable, therefore, 

 that Begalecus finds its food in the minute animal forms, or 



