248 Transactions. — Zoology. 



Consequently tlie greatest height of the body to the length is nearly one 

 eleventh. The greatest thickness of the body along the line of the yertebrse, 



3 feet 6 inches from the snout, is 3-5 inches, gradually it increases to 



4 inches at 4 feet 2 inches from the snout, a thickness it sustains for 4 feet 

 more, after which it gradually diminishes till 3 feet 6 inches from the tail 

 it has dwindled to 2-25 inches. The ventral edge of the body is broader 

 than the dorsal one. Colour generally silvery, with a tinge of lavender. 

 When the fine silvery coating is still attached, the tuberculated bands look 

 lighter than those on which the tubercles are very minute. On the other 

 hand, when this coating is rubbed off alike, the smooth bands look the 

 lightest. In the latter case the tuberculated bands appear steel-coloured, 

 on which the tubercles stand prominently with a silvery white lustre. On 

 both sides are a number of blackish irregular stripes and blots, mostly 

 elongate in the anterior portion, gradually decreasing and ceasing near the 

 anus. The whole skin is also covered with dark rings, mostly of a round 

 form, inclosing a lighter space. They are generally 1-5 inch in diameter 

 and stand about one inch from each other. 



Snout truncated with a very protractile upper jaw and a vertical cleft 

 of the mouth. No teeth. The eye, which has a somewhat oval form, the 

 largest diameter being in the horizontal direction, is 1*25 inch broad, or a 

 little more than i of the length of the head. The horizontal diameter of 

 the pupil is -52 inch. The three operculums, the supra-orbital, suborbital, 

 and prefrontal, as well as the remarkable maxillary bones, possess a 

 radiated structure on their surface, which is covered with a very thin skin, 

 breaking with the least touch. 



The frontal and nasal bones are smooth and covered with skin of a dark 

 steel colour, showing the same hidescence as the former. 



The cheeks, the supra-scapular and temporal bones are covered with 

 tuberculated skin which has also the same dark bluish colour as the rest of 

 the head. 



The dorsal fin consists of two portions, of which the first nine s^Dines 

 form a crest. These spines enlarge at their termination to a lobe, as 

 shown by the two only perfect ones when the fish was obtained ; they cover 

 a space of 2-5 inches. The first of these spines is broken oft' at 3 inches 

 from the base ; it is the stoutest of the whole series. 



No. 2 is considerably thinner and 7 inches long. It is one of the 

 complete ones. The next three spines (3, 4, and 5) were all broken off at 

 4 to 6 inches and were nearly as thick as the first. From here they get 

 thinner, the thickness of the seventh having only the thickness of the 

 second. This spine which is enthe, is 7*75 inches long, and has, like the 

 second, a lobe at its termination. The eighth is still thinner and broken 



