{95] MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF THE SWORD-FISHES. 383 
The snout is made up of the ethmoid, the nasals, the maxillaries, 
and the intermaxillaries. The ethmoid, from above, appears only like 
a little wedge; the nasals articulate with the frontals, and are pro- 
longed above to the middle of the snout, where they join with the su- 
perior arms of the intermaxillaries. The maxillaries form the sides of 
the base, making up internally a cylindrical body, which extends through 
the beak and terminates a little beyond the tip of the lower jaw. The 
intermaxillaries commence in a narrow area below the maxillaries, in- 
crease by degrees in extent, and finally take up the entire upper part of 
the beak, as far as its tip, and all the lower part as well, for more than 
a half of its length; it is these bones which alone form the anterior 
half of the beak, and it is they that carry the denticulations whiche 
make of it a kind of rasp, as has already been described. This weapon 
varies in individuals of the same sex, in its length as well as in its 
height, in the shape of its transverse section. Figures are given rep- 
resenting the beak of a specimen of the 7. albidus, which is here de- 
scribed. 
I have, however, thought it necessary to consider this beak as not 
perfect, because it can be seen thot it has aecidentally lost its tip when 
the fish was young, although this has been replaced later. I give also 
another figure of a beak which belongs to another male. I have figured 
3 beaks cut across 30 millimeters behind the tip of the lower jaw. Letter 
A indicates the point at which the tip of the lower jaw terminates; the 
first is 270 millimeters long, and its section, in the place indicated, is 12 
millimeters in height and 19 in width, and denticulations are visible 
through half its length. Thirty millimeters behind the tip it is 8 mil- 
limeters high and 18 wide;.the point is obtuse and the base is depressed. 
The second beak is 300 millimeters long; its section is 10 millimeters 
high and 19 wide; toward the point it is 6 millimeters high and 10 wide; 
the point is sharp, the base high. The third beak, which is that of a 
female, is 330 millimeters long; its section is 11 millimeters high and 
18 wide; toward the tip, which is very sharp, it is 4 in height and 8 in 
width; the base is higher than in the two which have been already 
mentioned. The same variations occur in 7. amplaus. 
TETRAPTURUS AMPLUS. 
The smaller individuals, which are ordinarily males, weigh 150 pounds, 
and measure, in all, 24 meters, while those which weigh 250 pounds are 
at least 3 meters in length. Individuals of 600 pounds are ordinarily 
females; their ovaries weigh more than 30 pounds, and yield from forty 
millions to #fty millions of eggs, of which half at least seem to be capa- 
ble of fertilization. These eggs have an exquisite flavor; they are sold 
in the markets for from 24 frances to 3 franes per pound. 
The fishermen distinguish two kinds of Aguja de casta; one they des- 
ignate by the name Vareteada, because its body is vertically marked 
with stripes of pale blue, while the other is entirely black or blackish 
