262 Dr. R. H. Traquair on Fossil Fishes 
The principal characters of the genus may be summed up as 
below :— 
NeMAtToprycuius, Traq.,= Pygopterus, Ag., partim. 
Body slender; head large, with bluntly pointed projecting 
muzzle; orbit far forward; gape very wide, with powerfully 
developed jaws; operculum rather small. Dentition power- 
fully developed ; teeth of two principal sizes, acutely conical, 
and enamel-tipped. Pectoral and ventral fins moderate ; rays 
of the pectoral articulated ; dorsal and anal fins nearly equal, 
large, triangular ; dorsal situated nearly opposite the anal ; tail 
completely heterocerea! ; fin-fulcra small. Scales very peculiar 
in form ; those of the flanks much higher than long, with a flat 
triangular articular process arising from the whole, or nearly 
the whole, upper margin; anterior-superior and posterior- 
inferior angles of the exposed face of the scale obtuse; orna- 
ment consisting of fine closely set thread-like ridges. 
Nematoptychius Greenockit, Ag., sp.—The only species of 
the genus, and as yet only obtained from the Scottish Carboni- 
ferous strata. 
For further details as to the general configuration and struc- 
ture of this fish, including the osteology of the head, I must 
refer the reader to my previously quoted memoir in the ‘Trans- 
actions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.’ 
Il. Wardichthys cyclosoma, gen. et sp. nev. 
This little fish, in my own collection, is contained in a nodule 
of clay ironstone from the shales at Wardie, and was found on 
the beach there, about fifteen yearsago. It is entire, with the 
exception of the tail, which is unfortunately wanting. The 
body, including the head, measures 3 inches in length by 23 at 
its greatest depth, and is remarkable for its nearly circular 
outline, and especially for the highly arched contour of the back, 
the ventral margin being much less curved. Fig. 1, Pl. XVL., 
represents the ‘ counterpart” or impression of the specimen, 
which, however, will convey a better idea of the form of the 
fish than the other half of the nodule, as from the latter a 
little bit of the back unfortunately splintered off and was lost 
in the act of splitting it open. 
The head equals about 4 the total length, without the tail ; 
it is a little crushed over towards the right side, and a good deal 
of displacement seems to have taken place with the facial bones, 
only a few of which are recognizable. The cranium proper is 
short, the snout blunt and rounded as in Mesolepis; and the 
