252 Dr. Irving — On the Airolo Schists. 



plates as in H. obliquus, though the median occipital plate seems 

 proportionally rather larger and broader, and the second median 

 plate in front of it rather smaller. Many specimens have occurred 

 showing the body of the fish, but unfortunately usually in a rather 

 jumbled condition; a comparison of those specimens, however, 

 pretty plainly shows that the general shape was like that of 

 Ceratodus, as I long ago pointed out was the case in Ctenodus 

 (==.Campylopleuron l ), namely, that the tail was protocercal, and a 

 long continuous dorso-caudal fin present. 



Uronemus splendens, Traquair. 



Ganopristodus splendens, Traquair, Geol. Mag. Dec. II. Vol. VIII. Jan. 1881, 

 p. 37; and Vol. IX. Dec. 1882, p. 543. 



I have previously alluded to the resemblance in the teeth and in 

 the shape of the body which this species bears to the little Uronemus 

 lobatus of the Burdiehouse Limestone ; resemblances which have 

 impressed me so much of late that I have resolved, in the mean- 

 while at least, to give up Ganopristodus and add the species to 

 Uronemus. Here I may also state that I have years ago abandoned 

 Uronemus magnus from the Airdrie Blackband Ironstone, as I believe 

 the fossil to which I gave that name 2 to be a fragment either of 

 Ctenodus or Hemictenodus. 



Uronemus, if the species splendens be adopted as an exponent of 

 its structure, is a genus of great interest, as it shows us a fish which 

 we may safely put among the Dipnoi, but whose dentition does 

 not take the form of Ctenodont or Ceratodont plates. Nevertheless 

 the teeth of Uronemus closely resemble in general appearance the 

 denticles on the coronal ridges of Dipterus, and of young specimens 

 of Hemictenodus obliquus. 



Since my last notice of this species was written I have obtained 

 several specimens of the cranial roof, from which it turns out that the 

 constituent plates were arranged much as in Dipterus and Ctenodus 

 cristatus. The median occipital is in contact with three lateral 

 pairs of plates, the anterior pair meeting in the middle line in front, 

 and there is another very small median plate in front of this pair, 

 but separated from the median occipital by a considerable interval. 



IV. — Note on the Airolo-Schists Controversy. 



By the Eev. A. Irving, D.Sc. (Lond.), F.G.S. ; 



of Wellington College, Berks. 



PBOM one cause and another efficient education in modern 

 languages has been exceptional in this country until quite 

 recent years ; and so it is no reproach to the geologist for him to 

 have to confess that he "can't read German." He must therefore 

 get some friend to translate for him, or wait until translations of 

 many important papers and books are published ; and in many cases 

 this never happens. So it is thought that towards the present con- 

 troversy, which has been raised about the schists, etc., of the Val 

 Bedretto and the adjoining districts, the mental attitude of many 

 1 Nature, 1878. 2 Geol. Mag. Dec. II. Vol. I. 1874, p. 555. 



