566 Davis—On the Fossil Fishes of the Chalk of Mount Lebanon. 
body exhibits a series of indented lines, extending from the head to the tail, and 
converging in their passage backwards; between the raised impression of the 
vertebral column and the dorsal surface there are seven, and on the abdominal 
half there are five of these lines. Their special significance cannot be easily 
understood; they are not caused by the scales; they may possibly indicate some 
internal muscular character. 
This species has been placed in the genus Osmeroides with some doubt. The 
number of its vertebree and the position of the fins, and the branchiostegal rays, 
eight in number, are characters which ally it with other members of the genus 
already described. 
Formation and Locality.—Upper Cretaceous: Sahel Alma, Mount Lebanon. 
Ex coll.—Lewis Collection; R. Damon, Esq., Weymouth. 
Osmeroides maximus, Davis. 
A large example of this genus in the Natural History Museum appears to offer 
some peculiarities which distinguish it from other species already described. It 
is imperfect; the caudal extremity is broken off. The fins, except the ventral 
and anal, are not distinguishable. ‘The head, however, is fairly well preserved, 
and the body, thickly coated with scales, shows a good impression of the vertebral 
column. The length of the specimen preserved is 12°5 inches from the tip of the 
snout to the base of the tail. The head occupies 3°6 inches. The height of the 
body behind the head is 2°2 inches. The peduncle of the tail is 1:0 inch. 
The head, 2:0 inches in height in the region of the occiput, diminishes forwards 
to the end of the snout, which forms an obtuse point. The jaws attain a length 
of 1-8 inch, but no teeth are distinguishable. The head is covered with thickly- 
enamelled plates, the surface of which is rugose, the rugosity occasionally arranged 
in lines of greater or less extent. The orbit is not well defined, and the head, 
apparently twisted over, exposing the under surface, is considerably deranged. 
The opercular bones were large, rounded posteriorly, and a number of branchi- 
ostegal rays are exposed. 
The vertebral column is large and strong. The vertebre are sixty-seven in 
number, of which twenty are caudal. ‘The anterior ones are shorter and higher 
than those farther back, varying from 0°25 inch in height and 0-15 inch in length 
anteriorly to 0°18 inch in height and 0-2 inch in length posteriorly. The ribs and 
spinous processes can be distinguished beneath the scales, but not with sufficient 
clearness to give a description of them. 
The pectoral fins are not present. The ventrals are situated 6:8 inches behind 
the snout. The rays are 2:0 inches in length, strong, articulated, and bifurcating. 
These fins are laid close to the body, and consequently the number of rays cannot 
