Miscellaneous. 463 



it entire to the new museum at Oxford, where it now is. Amongst 

 the specimens included are those which formed the subjects figured 

 in my work on the Testudinata. I have to add that the few dupli- 

 cates (for such they were) of the shells of tortoises at Cambridge 

 are, most of them, of common occurrence in collections. 



Thomas Bell. 



On Spatulemys Lasalse, a new Genus of Hydraspidae from Rio 

 Parana, Corrientes. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. 



Colonel P. Perez de Lasala has kindly presented to the Museum 

 a water-tortoise from Rio Parana, Corrientes, which has not been 

 recorded in scientific catalogues. It differs from Hi/draspis in the 

 general form of the head and thorax, and in the head being entirely 

 covered with small shields. It is like Hydromedusa in many par- 

 ticulars, especially in the thorax of one sex at least being concave ; 

 but it has a regular small nuchal plate. 



Spatttlemts. 



Thorax oblong, elongate, depressed, with a distinct elongate nuchal 

 plate. Fii'st vertebral plate very broad ; second, third, and fourth 

 longer than broad ; anterior marginal plates broad ; the second 

 and ninth largest, angular above. The sternum elongate, broad and 

 rounded in front, deeply notched behind ; gular plate large, marginal. 

 Head broad, depressed, entirely covered with small polygonal shields ; 

 forehead convex, rhombic, with a broad flat crown between the very 

 large temporal muscles ; chin with two beards ; mouth broad and 

 rounded in front. The two outer hinder claws very small, rudi- 

 mentary. Tail conical. Sternum in male (?) slightly concave, 

 especially behind. 



Spatulemys Lasalce. 



Shell above olive, nearly uniform, with a few small black spots on 

 the margin, which are more abundant and larger on the hinder plates. 

 Thorax and underside of margin pale, with symmetrical black spots, 

 which are largest on the front and sides of thorax. Length of thorax 

 15 in., breadth 8^ in. ; length of head 2^ in. 



Hab. Rio Parana, Corrientes (Colonel P. Perez de Lasala, Novem- 

 ber 5, 1872). 



Ohservations on the Metamorphoses of the Bony Fishes in general, and 

 especially on those of a small Chinese Fish, of the Genus Macropoda, 

 recently introduced into France. By M. N. Joly. 



In a letter addressed to M. H. Milne-Edwards on the 24th of 

 December 1864, M. Agassiz expressed himself as follows: — "I have 

 lately observed among fishes metamorphoses as considerable as those 

 which are known among reptiles. Now-a-days, when pisciculture is 

 pursued with such success and on so large a scale, it is surprising 

 that this fact has not long since been observed "*. 



* See Ann. des Sci. Nat. 5^ ser. torn. iii. p. 55. 



