484 © Bibliographical Notice. 
tion, the ventral surface is uppermost, the pectoral, ventral, anal, 
caudal fins can be more or less satisfactorily made out; the dorsal 
surface is absent. The length is 3 feet 83 inches, of which the head 
measures about 10 inches, and the tail (from the end of which 5 or 
6 inches may be wanting) about a foot. Judging by the large skull 
figured by Agassiz and preserved in the Leeds Museum, Megalich- 
thys may have attained a length of from 4 to 5 feet. 
The skull shows the mandible and mandibular teeth, the end of 
the snout, the opercula, and the jugular plates. The pectoral fins 
show the obtuse lobate character, previously suspected by Huxley to 
obtain in this genus. Large basal scales lie on each side of each 
pectoral fin. 
The ventral fins are abdominal. The right, which is best pre- 
served, exhibits the arrangement of the scales which is described, 
and which gives a clue to the disposition of the underlying bones or 
cartilages. This must have closely resembled that in some Elasmo- 
branchs. The same type of fin may be traced, though with important 
modifications, in Polypterus, Polyodon, and Acipenser, whilst in other 
recent Ganoids and in Teleostei the arrangement is widely different. 
Between the ventral fins are three large scales, one median and 
two lateral. On the left side of the median scale lies what appears 
to be the anus. A similar arrangement seems to occur in Plerich- 
thys. This region is rarely exposed in fossils. 
The anal fin has also its pair of large basal scales. The caudal 
fin cannot be well made out. There are indications of the under- 
lying skeleton, but nothing can be distinctly made out. 
All the features of the present fossil confirm the opinion long ago 
expressed by Pander and Huxley as to the near affinity of Megal- 
ichthys to Osteolepis and Diplopterus. 
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. 
Geological and Natural-History Survey of Canada: Catalogue of 
Canadian Plants.—Part I. Polypetale. By Joun Macovn, M.A., 
F.L.S., F.R.S.C. Montreal, 1883. 
Mosr of our colonial governments have recognized in an enlight- 
ened manner the great importance, even from a merely commercial 
stand-point, of a complete stock-taking of their natural productions. 
Mineral wealth has no doubt generally been looked to first ; and the 
necessity for the conservation of forests and of animals yielding 
food and clothing has not always been recognized so readily as the 
immediate profit to be obtained from them; but the value of the 
knowledge of what plants and animals the country contains has led 
to the frequent conjunction of Natural History departments with 
State Geological Surveys. This healthy sign of wise counsels is 
seen in the work before us—the first part of a catalogue of Canadian 
