of Polypterus, from West Africa. 245 
As this specimen is the only one yet received, an examina- 
tion of its internal structure is not within our reach; the 
abdominal viscera are all that will be mentioned. 
The stomach passes directly backward from the cesophagus, 
at first enlarging and then tapering till it ends in a point 
beneath the first dorsal finlet. From the right side of the 
stomach, about an inch and a quarter from its termination, 
proceeds a branch which extends forward more than an inch, 
and then turning backward passes straight to the anus, A 
little posterior to the point where it thus turns, the intestine 
is suddenly enlarged and is provided with two pyloric cceca, 
one very short and the other about half an inch long. 
* The liver is elongated, rather small. It lies on the right 
side of the cesophagus and anterior portion of the stomach, 
terminating near the origin of the branch from the latter; its 
extremity is divided into two slender lobes. 
The spleen is narrow, lying immediately above the intes- 
tine, from the last flexure to within about two inches of 
the anus. 
The ovaries extend forward beyond the point of the ccecal 
Portion of the stomach. In this specimen they are not 
enlarged, but in their advanced stages of development they 
must fill a large part of the abdominal cavity. 
The specimen is not in such condition as to make the 
arrangement of the air vessels very apparent. One extends 
along the spine, the whole length of the cavity, and "2 
inflated must occupy a large space. A second may exist, as 
in the bichir, but it is not seen in this specimen. 
The kidneys are slender, extending the whole length of the 
abdomen, 
As but two species of this genus have been hitherto indi- 
cated, very few words will be needed to show in what the 
present differs. The dorsal finlets present a character which 
is of itself conclusive. They are most numerous in the bichir, 
less so in the senegalus, and least of all in the palmas. But 
other points occur of equal ae though we are com- 
1950. 
JOURNAL B, S, N. H, ocT, 
