Gl,ANciMiiKni> 



CDl 



thc'Si' ,L!r<)\\ ills, liill ;irc fiil'liislicd iiistcail mi t'iicli side of 

 the lioch witli .-I U'W'j:, ex limli'lc-il duct ]ieiictr:itin,i;' iiiti) 

 the ilors.'il iiinsi'lcs. a li,ic'l<\\ aid ciuitiiiuafioii (if the 

 l)riiiicliial ra\itv. I'lintniniiiL;' a i'cs|iiral<ii-\- sac wliicli is 

 lined with a rdiiliniialimi of the iiuicous inciidiranc 

 of tiu; said ravit\-. This (•(Hitiiuiatioii (if the iiiciii- 

 bnine is aiuiiidaiilK' furiiisiicd with fainiticatiniis nt' tiic 

 branchial arteries (the lifst arlei'\- oii the riglit side, the 

 last oil the left"), \vhi(di coincx' liithef a great portion 

 of the Ncnoiis lilood of tin- heart. The l)lood oxyge- 

 nated ill eacli of the respiratorv sacs 1)\- iidialed air'' is 

 partlx' carried off li\' arterial ramitieations in the snr- 

 roiimling imiseles, Imt most of it is collected in a iiiaiii 

 iirterv, that discharges it into the great doi-sal arter\-. 

 The whole of tliis arrniigenient, it is true, stands in a 

 ])hvsiologieal respect beside the striieture just described 

 in JleferolimncliKs and Chirias: but the form of the body 

 and the structure of the tins range SdVinhiiDichns ini- 

 iiiediateh" beside Silnnifi. An ampliibious manner of 

 life has produced a development of special respiratory 

 organs for the breathing of air; but nevertheless the 



to the |irescnt the differences are far too little known 

 to be einployi'il in the s\stem. Knkk also came to 

 tii(^ eonclusion' that within the [hiras group the diffe- 

 rences in ihc I'orm of the aii--l)Iadder ma\- well be cni- 

 ]iloyeil in the distinction of the species, but not in the 

 delinition of the genera. 1)av' lias, how e\-er, em|ilo\'ed 

 these relations in the classilicatiou of the genera; but 

 he renuirks on this head that the niafine Glanomcjrphs 

 in general lia\(? a thick air-bladder, not enclosed in an 

 osseous capsule, as well as the majorit\- of the fr(;sh- 

 water forms; but that the further \\c penetrate int<i the 

 highlands of India, the oftener we meet with (ilano- 

 morphs wdiose air-ldadder is cased in this miiniier. It 

 would thus seem that liere too the amphibious manner 

 of life e.xerts a determinati\<; influeiu'c. 



The incasemc^nt of tlie air-bladdei' is also merelv a 

 part of the marked ossification that takes place in the 

 anterior portion of the spinal column. Here, as we have 

 mentioned, the anti'i-ior xertebra- are more' or less com- 

 pletely confluent; and their ribs are transformed into so- 

 called acoustic Ijones (W'eberian ossicles"), which serve to 



natural kinship may be most safely expressed by the | connect the air-bladder with the organs of hearing, and 



may well deserve their name, though tlu^y do not pos- 



form of the l)odv and the structure of those external 

 organs which otherwise afford the most tenable cha- 

 racters Avithin this series ol' families. 



This is also true of the variations of the air-bladder. 

 In our Sheattish it is externally simple, luit internally 

 ilivided in a longitudinal direction. In Bar/rus these 

 divisions are transverse. In J/alaptenirus' the anterior 

 part is externally set off, thcnigh not internally divided, 

 from the jiosterior, wlii(;h is p.-irtitioned intcrnalh-. though 

 incompleteh'. both in a longitudinal and a transverse 

 direction; and the anterior part itself is externally di- 

 vided in a longitudinal direction into two oval chambers, 

 winch connnunicate, however, with each other internally. 

 In Bhinolr/iis'' the posterior part of the air-bladder has 

 disappeared, and the two oval, anterior chambers lie 

 side by side, each enclosed in an osseous capsule. These 

 among (jther variations in the structure of the air- 

 bladder in the different (ilanomor])hous genera, show 

 that the form df this organ is highly plastic; but up 



sess the least homology -with the otosteals ((if:>:ini1(i 

 aii(Jifiis) of the higher \'ertebrates. Here tiiis ossifica- 

 tion of the first vei'tebrte — conjoined in many (ilano- 

 morphs with (jct'ipital plates (interneural growths) — 

 forms a strong support for the spinous ray of the first 

 dorsal tin, one of the powerful weapons of these fishes. 

 Both these structures are also connected, according to 

 SoHENSEX, with the ]iower possessed 1)\' several Glano- 

 inorphs of pidducing sounds''. The dorsal s])ines — the 



rudimentar\- (first) and the great (second) spinous ra\ 



pi'oduce noises (like the spinous ray of the pectoral tins) 

 by means of the friction Ijetween their artictilar surfaces 

 and those of the interspinal bones; and the air-bladder 

 utters sounds parth in the same wax as in the (iur- 

 nards, Fileiishes, and others (see Part 1), partly by 

 means of the vibration produced b}- the violent contrac- 

 tion of the special muscles running from the occi|3ital 

 rei;ioii or the foremost (confluent) vertebra^ to the acous- 



" Hyrtl, Stzber. Aliad. Wiss. Wiun, Malli. Xaturw. CI., Hrl. XI (18.0;5), [i. 30.5. 



* This according to V.w. Gi'NriiKn states, liowever, (Iiitrod. Stiiili/ Fixli.. p. .oG5) tliat tlie liing-lilje extensions of tlie briincliial 

 vily receive water. 



■" Geoffroy. Descr. de iE;/;/i>le. Po(,«.. pi. XII, fig. 4. 



■' Reissner, Arc-h. Anal.. I'liysiol., 18.')0, p. 421, Plate XII. 



' Stzber. Akad. Wiss. Wien. Malli. Nat. CI., Bd. XI, p. 14.0. 



■'' Fishes of Indiu, p. 440. 



•J Weber, De aure et aiiditu etc., Lips. 1820, p. 53. 



* Sorexsem, Om Lijdorganti- lios Fiske, Khhvn 1884, p. 121 etc. 



