346 



perhaps where there is little or no water, also being as it seems partly 

 amphibious." — Loc. cit. 243. 



From this account, it appears that the habits of these fish bear 

 very little relation to those of the Mud-fish . 



It is well known that many freshwater MoUusca which respire free 

 air, and I believe some of those which are furnished with pectiniform 

 gills for aquatic respiratiou, as Paludince and Falvatce, in the warmer 

 climates, such as India, where the waters of the streams or ponds are 

 dried up, būry themselves in the mud to a considerable depth likę 

 the Mud-fish, and likę them remain in a torpid statė imtil the return 

 of the rainy season. 



Sir William Jardine has described the kind of cocoon in the clay 

 in which the Mud-fish are brought to this country ; but I am in- 

 formed by Mr. Bartlett that the cavity is alvvays furnished with a 

 small aperture opposite to where the nose of the animal is placed. 



In referriug this animal to the class of Fishes, authors have laid 

 great stress on the fact of its being provided with a lateral line. 

 Thus M. Dumeril, in the lašt essay on the subject, notices the line, 

 " vvhich is ramified on the sides of the head as in Chimera," over- 

 looking the fact that the Triton cristatus, the conimon Eft, has 

 similar lines on both the sides and head. He compares the gill-rays 

 and branchial aperture to that of Mormyrus and Cobitis, but they 

 are equally likę those of Protonopsis ; and he compares the nostrils 

 to those of the Lamprey, overlooking the fact that the animal is 

 provided with nostrils communicating with the cavity of the mouth. 

 See Erp. Ge'nerale, ix. 213. 



I have been informed that this genus is found in other parts of 

 Africa, as Senegal, where it is called Tobal, and the White Nile, 

 from whence M. Armaud sent specimens to the Paris Museum in 

 1843 ; and Dr. Peters found a species in Quillemanes, which Peters 

 and J. Mūller have called Rhinocryptes amphibia. 



In reply to a note I had addressed to him, I have received the 

 following interesting communication from Mr. Bartlett, who at the 

 šame time informed me that he intended to have communicated it 

 to the next meeting of the Society : — 



" Crystal Palace, Sydenham, 



November 17th, 1856. 



"Dear Sir, — In reply to your note respecting the living Mud- 

 fish, I beg to say that in the month of June lašt I received from 

 Western Africa a case containing four specimens of this animal ; each 

 specimen was imbedded in a block of dry hard muddy clay, about 

 the size of a quartern loaf ; these blocks of clay were each sown up 

 in a piece of canvas to prevent the clay crumbling or falling to pieces. 

 According to the instructions I received from Capt. Chamberlayne 

 (the gentleman who sent them), I placed them in a tank of fresh 

 water at the temperature of 83 degrees ; in doing this a portion of the 

 clay crumbled off one of them and partly exposed the case in which 

 the animal was contained ; I was watching the operation when sud- 

 denly the case or cocoon rose to the surface of the water. I at first 



