1903.] Hay, Cretaceous Fishes from Mount Lebanon, Syria. 399 



The vertebras have been well calcified. In front of the first 

 dorsal there are present 24 vertebrae; from the front of the 

 first dorsal to the front of the second dorsal, 34; behind the 

 latter, 20. The diameter of those beneath the first dorsal fin 

 is 5 mm. 



In the abdomen of the specimen just described, is seen the 

 skull and most of the vertebral column of a bony fish, prob- 

 ably Eurypholis boissieri (PI. xxiv, Fig. i). 



It is interesting to observe how closely the sawfishes of the 

 Upper Cretaceous resemble those of our own day in most of 

 their characters, and yet how primitive is the condition of 

 their rostral teeth. We cannot doubt that our modern species 

 of Pristis have descended from forms closely like those found 

 at Mount Lebanon. 



No species known to belong to Pristis has, I believe, yet 

 been found in Cretaceous strata. In my work, ' Bibliography 

 and Catalogue of the Fossil Vertebrata of North America,' 

 page 316, I have credited Pristis curvidens Leidy to the Cre- 

 taceous of New Jersey; but on examining the matter more 

 closely, I have concluded that the deposits from which Leid3^'s 

 specimens were derived belong really to the Eocene. 



Sclerorhynchus solomonis, sp. nov. 

 Plate XXV. 



The specimen on which this species is based, No. 4503 

 (3706), consists of the rostrum complete or nearly so, the 

 head somewhat damaged, and a faint impression of one pec- 

 toral fin. It is the upper surface of the head which is directed 

 toward the observer. The plate will impart a sufficiently 

 clear idea of the form and proportions of the parts. 



Dr. A. S. Woodward has described and figured the type of 

 the genus Sclerorhynchus, S. atavus (Cat. Foss. Fishes, I, 

 1889, p. 76, pi. iii, fig. i). The only part which this author 

 had at his command was a portion of the rostrum, with the 

 teeth along its borders. That the present species is distinct 

 from S. atavus is evident from various considerations. 



The tip of the rostrum is slightly damaged, so that there is 



