THE DEAL-FISH ON THE COAST OF EAST LOTHIAN 21 



concurred. The rapid convergence of the outHnes of the 

 body to the point where the caudal fin (which, unfortunately, 

 was gone) had sprung from ; the sub-central position of the 

 lateral line with its curious plates ; the cartilaginous tubercles 

 along the ventral margin, — these and other features were all 

 characteristic of this species. The presence of roe proved it 

 to be a female. Reports in the newspapers referred to it as 

 another Oar-fish. 



From conversation v/ith some of the men who had seen 

 the fish and roughly measured it while it was whole, I ascer- 

 tained that its length was about 6 feet — two good paces. 

 The transverse section examined by me, which may not have 

 been from quite the deepest part of the body, gave a depth 

 of I 3 inches exclusive of fin ; at its thickest it was only one 

 inch and a quarter, showing the ribbon- or deal-like form of 

 the creature. At 10 inches from the end of the vertebral 

 column the depth diminished to 7 inches. The dorsal fin 

 had been much broken and torn, so that it is impossible for 

 me to say precisely what its original height may have been ; 

 but some of the spines, and these not quite entire, in the 

 middle portion were fully 3 J inches long. All I could learn 

 about the head was that the mouth-parts protruded much, 

 suggesting to one imaginative mind the profile of a calf ; to 

 another, that of a hound. In this connection it is interesting 

 to note that Smitt, in his " History of Scandinavian Fishes," 

 says its appearance, when the mouth is protruded, is " not 

 unlike that of a swine's snout." As regards colour, the 

 silvery epidermis seems to have been mostly rubbed off by 

 the time the fish was found, leaving it of a dull grey or 

 yellowish-grey tint, the long dorsal fin retaining, however, 

 traces of the bright red colour for which, in life, it is remark- 

 able. Although giving off an offensive oily smell, the parts 

 given to me were in a fairly fresh condition, and I do not 

 think the fish could have been long dead when discovered. 



The only previous record of the Deal-fish from the Firth 

 of Forth appears to be that of a specimen 5 feet 4 inches in 

 length, which was cast ashore on the coast of Fife, near Elie, 

 in the beginning of April 1848, and sent to Prof. Reid of 

 St Andrews, who published a very full description of it in 

 the " Annals and Magazine of Natural History " the follow- 



