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sufficient care being taken to exclude sources of error. Mr. Johnson, the 

 curator of the Acclimatization Society, has introduced Whitebait into the fish- 

 ponds in the gardens, and is convinced that they grow and develope into what 

 he designates Smelts. He, yesterday, showed me, in the ponds, a shoal of these 

 fish ; they were certainly much larger than average Whitebait, and had somewhat 

 lost their vermiform shape, we could not, however, succeed in catching any of 

 them, — I am glad to say, however, that he captured some this morning ; 

 I shall have something to say about them in the sequel. Mr. Bealey also tells 

 me that he put a number of Whitebait into a reservoir supplied only with 

 artesian water, and that they developed into Smelts, and such seems to be the 

 general opinion. Unfortunately, two very distinct flsh are confounded together 

 under the name of Smelts, and the observers are not sufficiently positive as to 

 which particular fish the Whitebait became. If, on comparison, the Whitebait 

 should not correspond, in general characters, with any larger fish common in 

 the Avon, we shall be quite justified in rejecting these observations as careless, 

 aiid inaccurate ; if, however, the Whitebait agree closely in generic and 

 specific characters with some larger and common fish, the experiments rise in 

 importance. 



This has led me to institute a comparison between the Whitebait and such 

 other fishes as are found commonly in the Avon, with a view to deciding this 

 question, and I now proceed to lay the result of these observations before the 

 Society. I do so, however, with considerable diffidence, partly because I have 

 not hitherto devoted my attention to fishes, and partly because I am almost 

 entirely destitute of works of reference in this particular line, and our libraries 

 are in the same condition ; I shall, therefore, endeavour to confine myself to 

 plain and prominent characters, and crave indulgence to any possible errors. 



The Whitebait averages two, to two and a half, inches in length ; it is 

 anguilliforous in form ; and, in its transparency, and the size and prominence of 

 its eyes, has the appearance of an immature fish. It is scaleless, has a 

 transparent greenish tinge, possesses six fins, excluding the caudal fin, which 

 is rather large and forked. 



A row of distinct black spots runs along the lateral line. The swim- 

 bladder is large and distinct, its situation being bordered by a band of black 

 spots. The teeth are microscopic. The fin rays are all soft, and the abdominal 

 position of the ventral fins refers them to the Malacopterygii abdomincdes ; 

 whilst the single dorsal fin, the absence of scales, and of a spine in the dorsal 

 fin, indicate that it is a Galaxia. 



Its specific characters are as follow : — 



One dorsal fin ; first ribs of dorsal and anal fin in a line, one-third of the 

 length of the body from the origin of the caudal fin ; ventral fin abdominal, 

 one-third the length of the body behind the pectorals ; teeth, imperceptible ; 

 fin rays : (P.) 11 or 12, (V.) 7, (D.) 10, (A.) 16, (C.) 16. 



There are only three fish in the River Avon, sufficiently common to justify 

 the supposition that either of them may be the adult form of the Whitebait ; 

 these are the Bull-head, the Silver-fish, and the Smelt. The name of Smelt is 

 applied indiscriminately to the two latter fish, we will, however, retain the 

 trivial name of Silver-fish as a distinction. We may first dismiss the Bull-head, 

 there is no possibility of confounding the Whitebait with this fish ; it is 

 thoroughly well-known, both in its adult and young form. 



It is an Acanthopterygious fish, with two dorsal fins, the first having 

 simple, though flexible rays, it belongs to the sub-class Acanthopterygii, family 

 Gobioi'dse, genus Eleotrinse, and is probably the Eleotris basalts, described by 

 Dieffenbach ; though Dieffenbach's description is too meagre to decide 

 positively. Tts characters are as follows : — Head, large, one third the length 

 of the body, which is tapering, in ' form ; colour, dark-brown, mottled of a 



