﻿1851.] SYKES ON A FOSSIL FISH FROM THE DECCAN. 



273 



opinion so valuable, that I was enabled to get the specimens examined 

 with deliberate attention. But Sir Philip, with that readiness which 

 makes him at all times anxious to render his knowledge available to 

 others, instantly responded to my appeal, and I am permitted by him 

 to make use in his own words of the conclusion at which he arrived 

 after an examination of the fossils. He says, — 



" The specimens, with one exception, are much broken, and the 

 materials scattered confusedly over the schist, but there is sufficient 

 evidence to show that they are all referable to the genus Lepidotus, 

 and most probably all to one and the same species, that being a new 

 one. It is remarkable for the slender proportions of the anterior part 

 of the trunk, and the thickness of the posterior part between the anal 

 fin and the tail. The scales are perfectly smooth, and the free poste- 

 rior margins entire, without any' trace of serration. A ramus of the 

 lower jaw is seen on one specimen, showing the teeth to be conical, 

 with rather elongated bases. There is little doubt but that it is a 

 true Oolitic form, and apparently of the date of the Lias. The schist 

 in which the fish are imbedded reminds me strongly of the bitumi- 

 nous shales of the Lias of Seefeld in the Tyrol. It is very desirable 

 that more perfect specimens should be obtained, since the only one 

 showing the form of the fish wants the head, and exhibits only the 

 under surface of the scales." 



In a second note Sir Philip adds, " The genus Lepidotus extends 

 from the Lias to the Chalk, both inclusive ; but your species bears 

 evidence of being one of the earlier members of the race. It was pro- 

 bably an estuary or in-shore fish, from its frequent association with 

 terrestrial vegetable remains, as in the Hyderabad specimens." 



Sir Philip Egerton has so ably and completely exhausted the sub- 

 ject, as far as the specimens permitted, that it only remains to me to 

 name the new fish; and as it was very much my practice in my 

 Natural History investigations to associate new species with the 

 localities or provinces where they were met with, I would propose to 

 call the specimen Lepidotus Deccanensis. 



I have written to India for more specimens ; but as the discoverer, 

 Dr. Walker, has lately unhappily lost his life by a fall from his horse, 

 I am not very sanguine about their receipt. 



3. On the Physical Evidence of an Extreme Arctic Climate 

 during the Formation of the Erratic Tertiaries of England 

 and Wales. By J. Trimmer, Esq., F.G.S. 



[This paper was withdrawn hy the Author, with the permission of the Council.] 



VOL. VII. — PART I. 



V 



