492 Lr. Traqnair — New Fish Remains from near Edinburgh. 



This more perfect specimen measures altogether 5 inches in length 

 by 21 in greatest depth at the ventral fins ; the shape of the botly 

 is thus deep and ovoid, but the appearance of the head and the 

 jumbled condition of the scales leave room for suspicion that its 

 proportions may be somewhat shortened up by post-mortem distor- 

 tion. 



The bones of the head are not in a very good state of preservation, 

 yet they show quite enough to prove in an unmistakeable way their 

 typically palajoniscoid arrangement. The hyomandibular suspenso- 

 rium is very oblique, the gape proportionably wide. The maxilla is 

 in shape very like that of CosmojptycMus striatus, and like it has its 

 broad portion marked with fine closely set ridges, mostly parallel 

 with its upper and posterior margins. The mandible is here badly 

 preserved, though the mouth is seen lying pretty widely open. 

 Detached dentary bones in my collection are about an inch, some- 

 times a little more, in length ; stout, and tapering anteriorly ; the 

 depth behind being i, and near the symphysis -^V of entire length ; 

 the outer surface is ornamented with rather fine, closely set ridges, 

 which are parallel with the lower but oblique to the upper margin of 

 the bone ; the upper margin itself is set at short intervals with 

 stout, conical, pointed and incurved teeth, between which may be 

 observed others of smaller size, and more externally placed. The 

 opercular bones are ill preserved though evidently arranged in 

 pal^oniscid fashion ; the clavicle is of the form prevalent in this 

 family, and is externally ornamented with ridges, which are coarser 

 than those of the facial bones. 



The ventral fin, of considerable size and consisting of numerous 

 closely set rays, is of the usual acuminate form ; the dorsal is very 

 imperfect, but its position is clearly seen to be nearly opposite the 

 interval between the ventrals and the anal ; the latter, though the 

 extremities of its anterior rays are broken up, is evidently of the 

 ordinary palaeoniscid shape, triangular-acuminate and falling away 

 rapidly behind. The rays of the lower lobe of the caudal are 

 likewise broken up towards their extremities, and those of the upper 

 have their joints altogether dislocated and jumbled, but the typically 

 palaeoniscid configuration of the fin is unmistakeable, being strongly 

 heterocercal with well-preserved body-prolongation, deeply cleft and 

 doubtless considerably inequilobate. The rays of all the fins are 

 numerous, closely set, and divided by transverse articulations, which 

 leave the joints rather longer than broad ; their outer surfaces are 

 brilliantly ganoid, and ornamented by a few longitudinal grooves, 

 which in the rays of the upper lobe of the caudal are numerous and 

 close enough to form a regular striation. 



The caudal body-prolongation is bordered above by a row of 

 acutely pointed, strongly-striated V-scales ; those clothing its sides 

 also conform to the ordinary palasoniscid type, being minute, 

 acutely lozenge-shaped, and externally nearly smooth, being orna- 

 mented only by one or two longitudinal grooves. 



But, on the tail pedicle, and over all the rest of the body the 

 scales are thin and of a rounded shape, though it must also be 



