157 



November 27, 1838. 

 Lieut.-Colonel W. H. Sykes in the Chair. 



Dr. Horsfield laid before the Meeting a series of Mammalia and 

 Birds collected in India by John IVPClelland, Esq., Assistant Sur- 

 geon E.I.C.S., and proceeded to point out the characters of some 

 which were undescribcd. 



A paper on the Fishes of the Deccan, illustrated with numerous 

 coloured drawings, was read by Colonel Sykes. 



" In submitting to the Society an account of the fishes of Dukhun," 

 observes Colonel Sykes, " it will scarcely excite surprise, that out 

 of 46 species described no less than 42 are new to science, since they 

 are from a hitherto untrodden field, and from peculiar localities, on 

 the great plateau of the Dukhun (Deccan), none of them coming from 

 a less elevation than 1500 feet aljove the sea; many from near 2000 

 feet, and others from yet higher situations. The chief features in 

 the collection are the paucity of orders to which the collection be- 

 longs, and the remarkable prevalence of the members of the families 

 of Silurida and CyprinidcE. There is but one apodal Malacopterygian, 

 but 4 Acanthopterygii, and the whole of the rest of the fish belong 

 to the order Abdominal Malacopterj-gians. Of the families there 

 are only eight: Percidce, Scovibridce, 'Phary7igiens Labyrinthiformes,' 

 GobiadtB, Siluridce, Cyprinidce, Esocida, and Murcenida, comprising 

 15 genera and 9 subgenera, including one subgenus, which I have 

 been compelled to add to the Cyprinidce. An attempt has been made 

 to methodize and distinguish the multitudinous members of the fa- 

 milies of Siluridce and CyprinidcB. The fact is, the continued inos- 

 culation in the character of the teeth, of the cirri, of the spines (ser- 

 rated or not) of the fins, the armature of the head, and the position 

 of the fins in the Siluridce ; and the number of cirri, and form and 

 position of the fins in the Cyprinidce, together with the character of 

 the mouth, produce such approximations in species to each other, and 

 in individuals of one genus to another, that not only is there infinite 

 difficulty in determining the genera of the fishes of these families, but 

 their identity as species is occasionally not less difficult. Some of 

 my SiluridcB do not exactly correspond with the generic characters 

 of the genera of this family as now constituted, and I might have 

 added to the number of genera; but to this I have an objection, 

 unless as an evidently necessary measure. In the Cyprinidce, how- 

 ever, I was obliged to set aside my repugnance, for three species were 

 not referrible to any one even, of the numerous subgenera which 

 Buchanan Hamilton wished to establish. It only remains to state 

 that the whole of my fishes were drawn from absolute measurement, 

 and have a scale of size attached to each figure ; they were caught 

 in the various rivers on whose banks I encamped, as individuals 

 were required ; so that my draftsman, who worked constantly under 

 my own eye, never had to finish his drawings from shriveled and 



