316 mr. G. e. dobson on the [May 1 9, 



down, and again renewed the same attempt more vigorously. Five 

 minutes afterwards it rose again, and pushed strongly against the 

 net. Thirty minutes afterwards it swam about excitedly round and 

 round the vessel. Two hours subsequently, in some way I did not 

 perceive, it splashed water up through the double net violently, so 

 that some drops fell outside the jar, the mouth of which was nearly 

 4 inches above the surface of the water. Fifteen minutes afterwards 

 I saw the fish resting vertically on the extremity of the caudal fin, 

 having its head thrust through one of the meshes of the lower net, 

 and the extremity of the snout at the surface of the water through 

 a mesh of the upper net. The depth of the water was such that the 

 fish exactly reached the surface with the snout when suspended ver- 

 tically resting on the tip of the caudal fin. 



The netted diaphragm was now raised 1 inch higher, and water 

 added, so that the net was 1 inch beneath the surface. In thirty- 

 seven minutes the fish again sought the surface, and succeeded in 

 thrusting its head and part of its body through the meshes of both 

 nets, so that its muzzle rested at the surface of the water. In this 

 position it remained quiet, apparently drawing in the unmixed air, 

 and would only leave its position when touched several times. Soon 

 afterwards it again forced its way through the net as before ; and two 

 minutes afterwards some bubbles of air passed from its mouth. On 

 shaking the vessel some air-bubbles passed upwards from the gill- 

 openings. 



The net was now removed and a perforated tin plate substituted. 

 In forty-five minutes the fish swam about in an excited manner, and 

 then sank to the bottom. It made several attempts to reach the 

 surface, and at length managed to force itself through a somewhat 

 larger opening in the centre of the plate, which I had thought much 

 too small for it to get through. Immediately on reaching the surface 

 it discharged a large amount of air under water, as a great number 

 of bubbles came up about it. It remained in shallow water (about 

 half an inch deep) all next day, and appeared very lively in the 

 evening. On the following day I observed that soon after taking in 

 air at the surface and sinking to the bottom of the vessel, a large 

 amount of air passed upwards in bubbles from the anus. 



The fish was removed to a larger jar, fresh water placed in it, and 

 a tin plate pierced throughout with openings of an equal size, too 

 small to allow the animal to gain access to the surface. The fish 

 made many attempts unsuccessfully to reach the surface, and at 

 length sank to the bottom and remained quiet there, the gill-covers 

 moving, however, very rapidly. In twenty-four hours the fish was 

 evidently about to die ; the dorsal fin had collapsed, and the gill- 

 covers had almost ceased to move. The diaphragm was removed, 

 and fresh water placed in the jar. The fish immediately recovered 

 strength, the dorsal fin became erect, and respiration proceeded as 

 before. On the following night he again leaped out of the jar, and 

 was found dead on the floor next morning. 



Exp. 6. — Another specimen of Lepidocephalicthys balgara was 

 placed in the glass jar in about 3 inches of water without the 



