122 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE.—1914. 
121. from Mr. Bolton of the Bristol Museum. The Curator of Ichthy- 
ology in the American Museum of Natural History, New York, has 
offered a donation towards’ the expenses on condition that some of 
the specimens be given to that Museum. The Committee have accepted 
this offer. 
On June 19 the Chairman, the Secretary, Dr. Smith Woodward, 
and Mr. Dunlop visited Dura Den. Each specimen was then examined 
by Dr. Smith Woodward, and a scheme of distributing the fish-remains 
to various public institutions was adopted by the members of the 
Committee who were then present. The distribution will be carried out 
during this summer. 
The report of Dr. Smith Woodward is appended : 
Preliminary Report-on the Fossil Fishes from Dura Den. 
By Dr. A. Smira Woopwarp. 
The very large majority of the fishes found during the excavations 
at» Dura Den are examples of Holoptychius flemingi, and most of 
the slabs exhibif no other species, Specimens of Glyptopomus 
kinnairdi, -Glyptopomus' minor, Phaneropleuron andersoni, and 
Bothriolepis hydrophila occur-but rarely. All are nearly complete, 
as usual, having keen suddenly buried; and it is probable that when 
studied in detail the new collection will make some small additions to 
our knowledge of the spéciés represented. 
The only important novelty is a nearly complete specimen of 
Phyllolepis, which shows for the first time the arrangement of the 
dermal plates in this rare fish; and apparently determines its affinities. 
The genus has already been recorded from Dura Den,’ but it is known 
only by detached plates. The armoured portion of the fish is oval in 
shape and depressed, so that the fossil is exposed from above or 
below. The surface shown is covered chiefly with two large plates, 
one behind the other, each irregularly hexagonal in shape and slightly 
broader than long. The anterior plate 1s somewhat the smaller and 
narrower; and the regularity of its concentric ridge-ornament is inter- 
rupted by waviness in lines apparently of slime-canals which radiate 
symmetrically from the centre to the periphery. The posterior plate 
is ornamented exactly like the imperfect typical plate of Phillolepis 
concentrica from Clashbennie.* Round the anterior plate are arranged 
four pairs of small plates, which decrease in width forwards. Their 
ridge-ornament is peculiar in being concentric only with two or three 
of the margins of each plate and running out at right-angles to the 
inner margin. The postero-lateral plate is long and narrow and much 
the largest, extending along the posterior two-thirds of the anterior 
median plate. The next plate forwards, also long and narrow, is 
much less than half as large as the postero-lateral just described, and 
the two pairs of anterior plates are comparatively small. This series 
of plates on each side is continued behind by another still larger plate, 
which flanks somewhat less than the anterior half of the posterior 
median plate and ends postero-laterally in a produced angle or cornu. 
° A, S.. Woodward, Catal. Foss. Fishes Brit. Mus.,.Pt; IT. (1891), p. 314. 
4 L. Agassiz, Poiss. Foss. Vieux Grés Rouge (1844), p. 67, pl. xxiv. fig. 1. 
