GENERAL REMARKS ON THE BLIND FISHES. 39 



a week after these, to me, interesting specimens had been sent 

 abroad, and he was as grieved as I was disappointed at my being 

 just too late to take advantage of them. (See note on p. 52.) 



At what time the young are born has never been stated, but judg- 

 ing from such data as I can at present command, I think that it must 

 be during the months of September and October. Specimens col- 

 lected during those months would probably contain embryos in 

 various stages of development, the examination of which would un- 

 doubtedly lead to most interesting results. (See note on p. 52.) 



Prof. Wyman has most generously placed in my hands his un- 

 published notes and drawings of the several dissections he has 

 made of Amblyopsis, as well as his specimens and dissections. 

 Many of these drawings are reproduced on Plate 1, and will, with 

 his notes which I here give, greatly enhance the value of this arti- 

 cle, as his dissections have been made with the utmost care, and 

 with a patience and delicacy that only a master hand attains. It 

 will therefore be understood that, in giving credit to Prof. Wyman 

 in the following pages, I refer to his unpublished notes, except 

 when the quotation is given from a special work. In quoting his 

 description of the eye and ear from " Silliman's Journal " I have 

 changed the references so as to refer to his drawings reproduced 

 on Plate 1, and not to the three cuts given in "Silliman's Journal," 

 though the figures of the brain and of the otolite were copied from 

 those cuts. 



The largest specimens I have seen of Amblyopsis are several 

 males and females, each from four to four and a half inches in 

 length, which seems to be about as large as the fish grows, though 

 Dr. Giinther mentions a specimen in the British Museum of five 

 inches in length. The largest specimen captured of late years is 

 said to have been taken, during the summer of 1871, and sold for 

 ten dollars to a person who was so desirous of securing the pre- 

 cious morsel that he had it cooked for his supper. The smallest 

 specimen I have seen was one and nine-tenths inches in length. 

 The general shape and character of the fish is best shown by the 

 figures on plates 1 and 2. 



"The whole head, above and below, is destitute of scales, the 

 naked skin extending backwards on the sides to the base of the 

 pectoral fins ; the scaly portion of the body above ends in a semi- 

 circular edge covering the space between the upper ends of the 

 opercula. The skin covering the middle region of the head is 



