26 On a new species of the genus Cephalopterus. 



the mouth, perform, no doubt, important functions in the 

 animal. They were five feet nine inches apart, and could 

 almost be made to meet in front of the mouth, or could be bent 

 into it. 



There was no proper bone in the skeleton, except in one 

 spot, a hump or knob, about the size of a hen's egg. at the 

 root of the tail behind the dorsal fin. Even the vertebrae ma- 

 nifested nothing more than specks of osseous matter, distribut- 

 ed irregularly through the gristle. Every part could be easily 

 cut with a knife ; for its constitution very much resembled 

 the substance of a sturgeon's nose. 



The case or cavity that contained the brain was a sort of 

 ellipsis, measuring twelve inches and a half by eighteen ; and 

 its upper side was destitute of cartilages; and like the fontinella 

 of infants, covered by ihe common integuments only for the 

 space of five inches and a half by seven. The heart consist- 

 ed of a single auricle and a single ventricle, as in other fishes. 



The eyes were situated near the projecting angles of the 

 head; and the humours contained in a cartilaginous receptacle 

 resembling an egg-cup, or an eye-glass, with the optic nerve 

 entering one side of the base. 



The nostrils were just within the upper lip, covered by a 

 membrane, which membrane more than covered the whole lip, 

 for it extended inwards towards the palate four inches near the 

 corner of the mouth, and was two inches broad about midway 



There was one dorsal fin, somewhat forward of the root of 

 the tail. It was of a triangular form and consisted of thirty- 

 six rays. In lieu of a second dorsal fin, there was a lump, 

 bunch* or callous knob, a few inches behind it. The tail was 

 covered with rather a coarser set of eminences, like a file or 

 rasp, than the other parts, and they were not so keenly scab- 

 rous. There was no caudal fin at the end, nor any aculeus or 

 sting on the upper side, near the junction with the body. 



The wings, flaps, or pectoral fins, were of a very curious 

 organization. There was a scapula, humerus, ulna, carpus, 

 and an uncommon number of phalanges, of the before-men- 

 tioned cartilaginous structure. All these limbs, or joints, were 



