622 Davis—On the Fossil Fishes of the Chalk of Mount Lebanon. 
strongest and longest, diminishing towards the centre ; the rays are jointed and 
repeatedly dichotomize. The superior and inferior ray of each lobe is supported 
by a series of imbricating rudimentary caudal rays. 
The pectoral fins are widely separated from the median abdominal line and 
strongly supported by the pectoral arch; there are ten to twelve rays in 
each. Their whole length is not preserved in this specimen, but another shows 
them to have been 0°8 of an inch in length, the outer rays largest and diminishing 
towards the axis of the body. The ventral fins are slightly larger and stronger 
than the pectorals, otherwise they are similar. 
The scales are admirably described by M. Pictet in terms of which the 
following is a translation :—‘‘ The scales form at least five series in certain parts 
of the body, one medial dorsal and two lateral on each side. The dorsal series 
has only been observed on the anterior part of the neck, upon a length less than 
that of the head. The scales of this series are in the form of an arrow-head, with 
the point directed forwards; the sides of the scale are rounded, with the greatest 
diameter a little behind the middle; their posterior extremity is included at a 
sharp angle, the two posterior lobes terminating in points. The scales best 
preserved are those which . . . . probably occupied the middle of the flank. . . . 
They present the form of a tricuspid arrow-head, of which one point is directed 
forwards, the other two diverging so as to form an obtuse angle; in the scales 
occupying the region between the head and the ventral fins the anterior point is 
a little longer than the other two; but in the region behind this the lateral 
points tend to predominate over the anterior one. Between this series and the 
dorsal one may be seen on each side another, composed of smaller scales, probably 
more delicate, because they are not so well preserved. These scales are similar 
in form to those already described with the point directed forwards, and furnished 
at their base with two diverging prolongations, shorter and less important than in 
the series preceding.” (‘‘ Nouy. rech. s. les poiss. foss. du Mt. Liban.,” p. 96.) 
In addition to the five series of scales described above there is a sixth 
extending along the abdominal median line; the scales are very similar to those 
already described as situated on the median dorsal surface. 
Formation and Locality.—Upper Cretaceous: Sahel Alma, Mount Lebanon. 
Ex coll_—Natural History Department, British Museum. 
Leptotrachelus triqueter, var. a., Davis. 
(Pl xexxyint., figs 2.) 
A large specimen of a Leptotrachelus, collected by Mr. Lewis, and now in the 
New Natural History Museum, South Kensington, is worthy of note. It is 
probable that it may belong to a distinct species, but until other and more 
