152 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



Total length, i 3 feet 6 inches, of which about 7^- inches 

 represents the head. 



Greatest depth (height) — at about 4 feet from head — 

 9^ inches, exclusive of dorsal fin, which is about 3 inches 

 high. 



Greatest thickness not measured, but, I should say, about 

 2i inches when I saw the fish. 



Vent about 5 feet from tip of nose. 



Diameter of eye i-J- in. ; iris silvery white. 



Dorsal fin, continuous (?) from top of head to within 

 about 2^ inches of the caudal extremity, and consists, the 

 taxidermists tell me, of 301 rays ; this includes the long 

 rays of the occipital crest, of which very little remains, but 

 the fishermen assured me that when found the animal had 

 " horns " a foot and a half long on its head ; these, it is to 

 be regretted, they did not take pains to preserve. 



Caudal fin, apparently none, but the caudal extremity, 

 though wonderfully good, was not entirely free from damage ; 

 it corresponded in outline with that given in the best figures. 

 Of course there was no anal fin. 



Ventral fins (the long " oars " ) broken off at 3 to 4 

 inches from their bases, and looking like quills with the web 

 stripped off. 



Pectoral fins also considerably torn, but apparently con- 

 sisting of about a dozen rays. 



Colour, all over (dorsal fin excepted), at first of the 

 brightest silver, "just like a new shilling," I was told ; but by 

 the time of my visit it had dulled considerably. Hancock 

 and Embleton's comparison with " bright tin-foil or white 

 Dutch metal " suits it very well. Only the very faintest 

 traces of a few darker streaks and spots could be detected, 

 and the men said they had never noticed any. The rays 

 and upper edge of the dorsal fin were crimson tinted. 



Nothing was found in the stomach. 



The men kindly allowed me to take a photograph of the 

 fish, but it is not very suitable for reproduction. I give, 

 however, an outline copy of it with the missing parts of the 

 crest and oars indicated by dotted lines. 



Some twenty-five specimens of the Oar-fish are reported 

 to have occurred in Britain, about one-half of them on the 



