118 MR. J. S. BUDGET! ON THE 



On August the 15th another female Pohjpteras was brought, which had slied all 



its eggs. 



In each case I took several natives to the spot where the female liad lieen caught 

 and made a very thorough search for the eggs in the neighbourhood, examining every 

 blade of grass, but found not a single egg. 



On Au"-iist the 10th a small boy brought me a specimen o'i Foli/iJterns lapradei only 

 one inch and a quarter in length ; it was a most beautiful object (PI. XT. fig. 1). 

 The upper surface is marked with black stripes on a golden ground, a conspicuous 

 golden stripe runs on each side above the eye, across the spiracle, and along the 

 dorsal surface of the external gill ^. The external gills are at this stage of great size, 

 reachino- halfway to the tail, blood-red, and with a row of branches on either side. 

 Each branch bears a row of pinnules on either side ; the pinnules have the same 

 structureas those of most Amphibian and Dipnoan external gill-filaments, being merely 

 a lono- drawn-out blood-capillary loop. The afferent limb of the loop arises from the 

 afferent artery of the gill-branch ; the efferent limb of the loop joins the efferent 

 artery of the gill-branch. Similarly the afferent artery of the gill-branch arises from 

 the afferent artery of the external gill, while the efferent artery of the gill-branch 

 joins the efferent artery of the external gill. Every alternate gill-branch is much 

 smaller than tlie next gill-branch (PI. XL fig. 2). Each of these small gill-branches 

 bends towards the surface of the body, while the large gill-branches extend parallel 

 with the body. Thus space is economised, and the result is the same as four rows of 

 branches on the external gill. Arising immediately behind the spiracle, the external 

 gills may droop ventralwards posteriorly, and do not seem to be moved much by 

 muscles, except just to straighten the shaft from the drooping position. The heart and 

 blood-supply to the external gills can be seen with wonderful distinctness through the 

 transparent ventral body-wall. The dorsal finlets are not differentiated from the tail, 

 of which they seem to be only a forward prolongation. They are not distinct from 

 one another, but form rather a continuous dorsal fin. The body is distinctly more 

 truncate in the larva than in the adult, the head and tail-region being large. The eye 

 is also very large in proportion. 



The area of pigment ceases abruptly ventralwards in a line running from the tubular 

 nasal opening under the eye dorsal to the sliaft of the pectoral fin, thence to the base 

 of the anal fin. 



The larva was extraordinarily active, and, during the moments when it was at rest, 

 supported the weight of its body on its pectoral fins, the blade of the fin being turned 

 forwards and not backwards as is usually the case in the adult. The shape of the 

 pectoral fin differs considerably from that of the adult. The ventral or postasial border 



' The young larva which I have described is about one third of the length of any larval Crossopterygian 

 which has, up to the present time, been obtained. The anatomy of this specimen I hope to describe in a 

 future paper. 



