144 Mr. Couch’s Account of Orthagoriscus Oblongus. 
stance is gradually developed and becomes enclosed in cells 
whose sides consist solely of carbon and the elements of 
water. 
Afterwards a substance is formed rich in carbon and con- 
taining three times more hydrogen than if it consisted of 
carbon and water. From this it appears to him that the ne- 
cessity of an excess of hydrogen in vegetation may be proved. 
The substance containing so much hydrogen is said to be a 
thick fluid, &c. 
['To be continued. ] 
XIX.—Account of a Specimen of the Oblong Sunfish, Ortha- 
goriscus Oblongus, taken at Par in Cornwall, and preserved 
in the Museum of the Royal Institution of Cornwall at 
Truro. By Jonatuan Coucg, F.L.S., M.R.G.S. of Corn- 
wall. 
NOTWITHSTANDING that the figures and description of the 
Oblong or Longer Sunfish, as published by Borlase, Montagu, 
Donovan and Mr. Yarrell, would seem sufficient to remove all 
doubt of the specific character of this fish, and the great dif- 
ference between it and the more common species, U. Mola; 
et even now this conclusion does not seem universally as- 
sented to. It is with great pleasure, therefore, that I am able, 
from examination of a specimen, to add my testimony to that 
of the above-named distinguished naturalists. The specimen 
had wandered into the lock of the new-made canal at a short 
distance west of Fowey; and being deemed extraordinary, 
though without a full knowledge of the interest attached to 
it, it was carefully skinned and preserved, to be presented to 
the Royal Cornwall Museum. The length is 22 inches; depth, 
measured on the round, from back to belly, 114; from snout 
to the eye, 22; to the origin of the pectoral fin, 84 ; length of 
this fin, 44; caudal fin 13 inch wide, or more properly, long; 
anal fin 6 inches—as I suppose is the dorsal, but the latter is 
a little injured. The number of fin rays is here given: 
P, 15, D. 18, A. 17, C.18. 
The figure of this fish, which is here forwarded, is so little dif- 
ferent from that given by Mr. Yarrell (¢ British Fishes,’ vol. ii. 
. 354.), as scarcely to require remark ; [ would therefore only 
point out, that in this skin there appears a plait bound over 
the upper lip, and that the rays of the dorsal and anal fins are 
bent into a curve at their termination ; neither of which cir- 
cumstances are marked in Mr. Yarrell’s figure ; probably be- 
