73 Miscellaneous. 



iiished with long hairs towards the end ; these sometimes descend 

 beyond the heel, as in the ass. 



According to M. David, the Chinese often give the Mi-lou the 

 name of Sseu-pou-siang — that is to say, the four (characters) which 

 do not agree, as they consider that the animal resembles the stag in 

 its horns, the cow in its feet, the camel in its neck, and the mule or 

 the ass in its tail. The author considers the characters of this animal 

 to be so peculiar that it forms a new generic group, and he gives it 

 the name of Elaphurus Davidianus. 



The Mi-lou is of the size of a large stag ; an adult male received 

 by the Museum measures I "30 metre to the withers ; and larger in- 

 dividuals are often seen. The animal lives in herds in the imperial 

 park at some distance from Pekin ; it has been there for a long time ; 

 but the Chinese do not know how or at what time it was brought 

 there. M. David thinks that the reindeer spoken of by Hue, in his 

 * Voyage en Tartaric,' as living in herds beyond the Koukou-Noor, 

 towards 36° N. lat., may have been identical with the Mi-lou. — 

 Comptes Rendus, May 14, 1866, pp. 1090-1092. 



On the PleuronectidcB of the Genus Zeugopterus, and the Structure 

 of their Branchial Cavity. By J. Steenstrup. 



In a monograph published in 1835 upon the Pleuronectidae of the 

 Sound and the Cattegat, M. Gottsche established several new genera 

 which have not in general been accepted by zoologists. One of these 

 genera, Zeugopterus, was characterized by the author as presenting 

 a union of the anal fin to the ventrals by a fold of skin starting from 

 the last rays of the latter. M. Kroyer, in his ' Danish Fishes,' has 

 rejected this genus, as being founded upon a character of secondary 

 importance, which can only be regarded as specific. M. Steenstrup 

 agrees with Kroyer as to the value of the character, but nevertheless 

 retains the genus Zeugopterus, because the character in question is 

 never isolated, but always presents itself in connexion with others. 

 The most important of the latter is a constant deviation either of the 

 anal or dorsal fin towards the blind side — a deviation which cannot 

 but exert some influence upon the mode of natation of the animal. 

 Moreover the scales of the Zeugopteri are roughened with little teeth, 

 and both the outline of the body and the coloration appear to present 

 certain peculiarities common to all the species. But the most evi- 

 dent proof that the group Zeugopterus really forms a well-marked 

 natural division, is the discovery by Steenstrup of a very remarkable 

 anatomical peculiarity which is not exemplified in any other Pleuro- 

 nectid. Thus in the Zeugopteri the vertical osseous partition which 

 separates the two branchial cavities from each other is perforated by 

 a large aperture in such a manner that the water can pass freely 

 from one branchial cavity to the other. The physiological bearing 

 of such an arrangement seems very problematical. — Oversigt, ^-c, 

 Danske Fidensk. Selsk. 1865, p. 95 ; Bibl. Univ. May 1860, p. 79. 



