THE ANNALS 



AND 



MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTOEY. 



[FIFTH SERIES.] 



No. 42. JUNE 1881. 



XLIII. — On Palasospinax priscus, Egerton. 

 By James W. Davis, F.G.S. &c. 



[Plate XX.] 



I HAVE recently had the good fortune to become possessed of 

 an example of this rare fish, which serves to elucidate some 

 characters not shown on the specimens described by Sir P. 

 Egerton in the xiii. decade of the Memoirs of the Geological 

 Survey (1872). Whilsl, proving the correctness of the deduc- 

 tions drawn by the author, this specimen also exhibits charac- 

 ters which enable me to correct some inferences drawn from 

 imperfect evidence. 



]\Iy specimen is 10 inches in length. The front part of the 

 head is absent ; and probably 2 inches of the caudal extre- 

 mity is also broken away. The body of the fish included 

 between these parts is exti'cmely well represented. The fish is 

 laid on its ventral surface, and exposes the dorsal. There are 

 two large pectoral fins, two dorsal fins, each having attached 

 to its anterior portion a bony fin-ray. There is also exposed 

 one ventral fin, the opposite one being hidden beneath the 

 body of the fish. The caudal fin is entirely absent. The 

 vertebrae extend from their connexion with the head to tlie 



Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol. vii. 32 



