THE OLD RED SANDSTONE. 77 
men (Plate VI., fig. 1) Agassiz has pronounced a new species, 
the discovery of the writer. In all the remains of this curi- 
ous fish which I have hitherto seen, the union of the osseous 
with the cartilaginous, in the general framework of the crea- 
ture, is strikingly apparent. ‘The external skull, the great 
shoulder-bone, and the rays of the fins, are all unequivocally 
osseous ; the occipital and shoulder-bones, in particular, seem 
of great strength and massiveness, and are invariably pre- 
served, however imperfect the specimen in other respects ; 
whereas, even in specimens the most complete, and which 
exhibit every scale and every ray, however minute, and show 
unchanged the entire outline of the animal, nota fragment of 
the internal skeleton appears. The Cheirolepis seems to have 
varied from fourteen to four inches in length. When seen 
in profile, the under line, as in the figured variety, seems 
thickly covered with fins, and the upper line well nigh 
naked. ‘The large pectorals almost encroach on the ven- 
tral fins, and the ventrals on the anal fin; whereas the 
back, for two thirds the enttre length of the creature, pre- 
sents a bare rectilinear ridge, and the single dorsal, which 
rises but a little way over the tail, immediately opposite the 
posterior portion of the anal fin, is comparatively of small 
size. The tail, which, in the general condition of being 
developed chiefly on the lower side, resembles the tails of all 
the creature’s contemporaries, is elegantly lobed. The scales, 
in proportion to the bulk of the body which they cover, are 
not more than one twentieth the size of those of the Osteole- 
pis. They are richly enamelled, and range diagonally from 
the shoulder to the belly in waving lines; and so fretted is 
each individual scale by longitudinal grooves and ridges, that, 
on first bringing it under the glass, it seems a little bunch of 
glittering thorns, though, when more minutely examined, it is 
