117 
the British Fauna, but could not determine what it really was. The 
specimen being a good deal mutilated about the head and abdomen, 
and in a state of partial decomposition, I did not attempt to preserve 
it, but drew up as correct a description of it as its condition admitted 
of, which I sent to Dr. Fleming, along with all the information about 
it which I could obtain from Mr. Strang, and also a somewhat rough 
drawing. Dr. Fleming wrote, of date 8th May, 1829, at once deter- 
mining the fish to be the Gymnogaster arcticus of Brunnich, or 
Vaagmaer, as described by Cuvier in his ‘ Régne Animal,’ ii. 246, a 
native of the seas of Iceland ;—at the same time mentioning some 
slight discrepancies, which more perfect specimens, since procured, 
have completely removed. With my consent, he drew up a notice of 
it, which was inserted in the 4th volume of ‘ Loudon’s Magazine of 
Nat. Hist.,’ along with a plate from the drawing sent. This article 
I have not met with, having merely seen Yarrell’s quotations from it. 
Since 1829 I have met with seven or eight specimens, some of which 
were mutilated by birds, and some quite entire, and from the latter 
I have ascertained the existence of ventral fins, which are exceedingly 
minute and rudimental, and easily overlooked, more especially if the 
specimen be not quite fresh and perfect. I am now therefore enabled 
to say with certainty that there can be no doubt of the identity of 
the fish occurring in these islands with the Vaagmaer, as described 
and figured in Yarrell’s Supplement to the Ist edition of his ‘ British 
Fishes,’ from information supplied by Professor Reinhardt of Copen- 
hagen, and there named Trachypterus vogmarus. In the first figure, 
given at page 14, the ventral fins are much too long and conspicuous, 
but they are quite correctly represented in the vignette at page 18. 
The late Dr. John Reid, of St. Andrews, published an article in the 
Annals of Nat. Hist., June 1849, describing a specimen of the T'ra- 
chypterus Bogmarus thrown ashore on the coast of Fifeshire, in which 
he says, ‘ No unquestionahly genuine specimen of this rare fish has, 
as far as I am aware, been hitherto found in the British seas; for 
the description and figure of the fishes thrown ashore in Orkney, 
supposed to be specimens of the Deal-fish or Vaagmaer, given by 
Dr. Fleming on the authority of Dr. Duguid, differ in so many im- 
portant points from the Vaagmaer as must excite doubts as to their 
identity.’ Now Dr. Reid has not stated what the important points 
of difference are between my description and that of Prof. Reinhardt. 
It is true there is one important point—important as determining 
the proper classification of the fish—the existence or non-existence of 
ventral fins. These I did not detect; but it is not surprising, con- 
sidering their minuteness, and the mutilated condition of the only 
specimen I had then seen. We have at this moment three dried 
ones in the Orkney Museum, not so perfect as could be desired, but 
sufficiently so to determine this point, as well as the identity of the 
fish with the Icelandic Vaagmaer. It is strange also that Dr. Reid 
never mentions the existence of ventral fins in his specimen at all, 
and that also, while he denies that the fishes thrown ashore in Ork- 
ney are the Deal-fish or Vaagmaer, he should forget that the popular 
name Deal-fish is strictly of Orcadian origin.’ 
