846 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XX. No. 520. 



pressed fish and the structure and relations of 

 the fins to each other and the interspinals, as 

 well as other skeletal details, conclusively 

 demonstrated that the animal was closely re- 

 lated to the existing Antennarius and 

 Ptero-pliryne. Indeed, with skeletons of those 

 forms before me, after elimination of faults 

 of restoration, I could find no generic dif- 

 ferences between the fossil and the recent 

 Pterophryne. The caudal of the extinct 

 species, it is true, was longer and that dif- 

 ference may be correlated with others observ- 

 able by close scrutiny, but the figures pxiblished 

 do not give details with sufiicient clearness to 

 appreciate them. 



Still more apt than Dr. Eastman supposed, 

 then, are his remarks : " Attention should be 

 called * * * to the remarkable fact of a 

 type of fish-life appearing suddenly in the 

 Eocene, already highly modified, without any 

 known predecessors nor any that can be 

 plausibly conjectured, but which persists after 

 its first introduction essentially unchanged 

 until modern times." 



The recognition of the relationship of 

 ' Hisiionotophorus ' accentuates the deduction. 

 We now have two (the only known) eocene 

 Pediculates so nearly related to greatly dif- 

 ferentiated recent forms that their generic 

 differences, if any, remain to be discovered — 

 the Lophius hrachysomus and Histionoto- 

 phorus (perhaps Pterophryne) hassani. Yet 

 the Pediculates are exceptionally aberrant and 

 specialized fishes. The significance of the 

 facts may be appreciated when it is recalled 

 that nearly all the contemporary mammals 

 belonged to extinct families or, conversely, 

 that almost all the recent families have been 

 evolved since — so far as we know. 



The history of the form is noteworthy. De 

 Zigno (1887) recognized its similarity to the 

 genus Antennarius (Questa forma '■■' * * 

 presenta qualche somiglianza col genere An- 

 tennarius di Gommerson) but distinguished 

 it by its form, horizontal mouth and elongated 

 fin-rays, especially those of the caudal. Smith 

 Woodward, without reference to the views of 

 De Zigno, noticed it, among the ' Scorpsenidse,' 

 as one of the ' extinct genera and species, 

 which are not represented in the collection, 



[and] are supposed to be related to Scorpcena.' 

 Eastman's view has just been given. It only 

 remains to add that no such diflierences as are 

 urged by De Zigno exist, except the long 

 caudal rays. The horizontal mouth is the 

 result of distortion through pressure. The 

 figures marked on Eastman's plate (I.) ' 1.' 

 and ' la ' show the subvertical mouth. 



One more of several points raised by Dr. 

 Eastman's important memoir may be alluded 

 to. 



Another Monte Bolea fish has been de- 

 scribed and photographed as Symphodus 

 szajnochoB {= Grenilahrus szajnochce Zigno). 

 The non-labrine appearance and osteological 

 characters led me to read the description. It 

 appears, according to Dr. Eastman, that 

 ' there are at least eight branchiostegal rays ' 

 and that ' the scales are thin, ctenoidal and 

 very strongly pectinated-' It is, therefore, 

 evident that the species is not even related to 

 the labrids. The chaiiaoters specified are 

 rather those of beryeids, but it belongs to no 

 known genus and the family even is uncer- 

 tain. The combination of form, rounded 

 caudal, single dorsal with eleven stout spines, 

 and anal opposite soft dorsal, with ctenoid 

 scales and increased branchiostegal rays, 

 separate it from any other fish, so far as 

 known, and it may be differentiated as a dis- 

 tinct generic type and named Bradyurus. 

 It is to be hoped that Dr. Eastman may re- 

 examine the fish and give the results of his 

 review. Theo. Gill. 



THE RE-DISCOVERY OF DINOMYS. 



The great rat-like rodent Dinomys was dis- 

 covered in 1873 in the Peruvian Andes, and 

 since that time the specimen, which is pre- 

 served in the Berlin Museum, has remained 

 unique. In the spring of this year Dr. Goeldi, 

 of the Museum of Para, announced the re- 

 discovery of this rare animal in the lowlands 

 of Brazil. The following notes as to its ap- 

 pearance and habits are abridged from Dr. 

 Goeldi's account of this animal which ap- 

 peared in the Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society for May and June. 



The general build of Dinomys is thick-set and 

 inclined to corpulency. Due to the fact of setting 



