in the Neighbourhood of Edinburgh. 189 
vered by them, and by an osseous skeleton, M. Aeassiz has at- 
tributed the remains of two fish which have been found. One 
of these belongs to his genus Pygopterus, and another to an un- 
described and extraordinary genus, the Megalichthys. 
This list could no doubt be extended. I am therefore called 
upon to remark, that, as the entire suite of specimens hither- 
to collected at Burdiehouse has been submitted to the investi- 
gation of M. Acass1z, to be illustrated by him in his “ Re- 
cherches sur les Poissons Fossiles,” it would only burden the 
volumes of the Royal Society’s Transactions, to enter into a de- 
scription of all the fish discovered in the quarry For this rea- 
son, I have proposed to confine myself to such individuals only, 
as might serve for illustrations of the general character of the 
limestone, or might involve geological questions of importance. 
NOTES TO SECTION VI. 
Soon after my discovery of the fossil treasures of the Burdiehouse limestone, I 
was anxious to obtain M. Acasstz’s judgment upon them; and, accordingly, very 
early during the last spring, I wrote to him, with drawings of three of the best mark- 
ed specimens which had then been found. Since that period many others have been 
added to the collection of the Burdiehouse specimens, and when, upon the occasion 
of the British Association of Science meeting at Edinburgh, I had the satisfaction of 
cultivating a personal acquaintance with M. Acassiz, he promised to favour me with 
his opinion regarding all such specimens as I might submit to his consideration. 
That I should have consulted M. Acassiz in preference to any other naturalist, 
however eminent he might have rendered himself in other departments of zoology 
(and I would add that there are zoologists in Scotland whose memoirs form very 
valuable portions of the Royal Society’s Transactions), cannot create the least degree 
of surprise among such as are aware of the most imperfect state of our knowledge in 
fossil ichthyology, and of the great light which is dawning upon this obscure branch 
connected with geology, by the transcendent researches which are going on under the 
auspices of the Swiss naturalist. 
To those who may happen to be unacquainted with M. Acassiz or his writings, 
it is sufficient for me to explain, that he appears before us under two great recommen- 
dations. ; 
In the first place, he has taken up the elucidation of a branch of natural history, 
conceded to him as untrod ground by no less an individual than Cuvier himself,— 
himself a giant in the field of paleontology. This fact is rendered evident by the 
