1884.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 169 



Macruridae) which do not exhibit the combination of characters 

 signalized. Such fishes have been designated as the families 

 Brotulidae, Ophidiidse, Fierasferidae, and Congrogadidee. These 

 have the characters assigned by Prof Cope to his Scyphobranchii, 

 at least as much as the genus Zoarces (referred to that group as 

 a genus of Blenniidae), but none of the genera are mentioned 

 under either title. Probably Prof. Cope had no skeletons of any 

 of the families in question. We are therefore left in doubt (1) 

 whether he would associate them with the Gadidse and Macruridae 

 and modify the characters of the including group Anacanthini,or 

 (2) whether he would refer them to the Scyphobranchii, next to 

 Zoarces and the Blenniidse generally. 



Messrs. Jordan & Gilbert, in their excellent " Synopsis of the 

 Fishes of North America," incidentally (p. 783, in a foot-note) 

 refer to the "Anacanthini or Jugulares " as a " group or suborder" 

 of Acanthopteri, and conclude the " order Acanthopteri " with 

 the series of families generally combined under the former name. 

 After having first admitted the family Brotulidse (p. 79), they 

 finally referred its constituents to the family Gadidse (p. 794), 

 admitting, however, the families Gongrogadidde (p. 790), Fieras- 

 feridse (p. 791), Ophidiidse (p. 792), and Macruridae (p. 810). 

 The question now arises whether the last thought of the eminent 

 ichthyologists is an advance on their first thought. 



A preliminary investigation into the structure of the Jugular 

 or Anacanthine fishes, leads us to different conclusions from those 

 enunciated by the several great authorities, whose views we have 

 mentioned. That lamentable inattention to anatomy, and poverty 

 of the museums in anatomical preparations and skeletons, which 

 is the opprobrium of the institutions of this country, has pre- 

 vented anything like an exhaustive examination, and will forbid 

 the rapid progress here of scientific ichthyology till the want is 

 supplied. My own small private collection, supplemented by the 

 data published by others, has alone rendered even the present 

 outline of the system of the Anacanthini possible. The details 

 will therefore have to be filled in when science shall have estab- 

 lished itself more thoroughly here, or when a citizen of a more 

 fortunate land shall take up the subject. Enough is now known, 

 however, to almost assure us that the present outline cannot be 

 far out of the way. 



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