MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES AND OBSEEVATIONS. 339 



nearly the entire length of the body. The ventral fins are close 

 behind them, and are of a quadrate form, rather longer than 

 wide. The small dorsal fin is placed just in front of the spine 

 on the tail. 



The mouth and nostrils, as is usual in the Rays, are on the 

 underside of the fish, the mouth being about an inch and a half 

 from the end of the snout. There are five slits or gill-openings 

 on each side placed considerably behind the mouth. The teeth 

 are flat, and arranged on the jaws like a tessellated pavement, 

 and in transverse rows ; the central teeth, which are the largest, 

 are long, narrow, and hexagonal in form, and slightly arched, 

 the smaller teeth are diamond-shaped, and fit in between the 

 ends of the central ones, forming alternately one and two rows 

 at the sides. 



The action of these two plates of teeth, palatal and mandibu- 

 lar, on each other, is of a crushing character, something like the 

 action of a millstone, hence one of the local names of the fish is 

 the Miller ; and the generic name Mijliohatis has also reference 

 to this character. 



The dimensions of the specimen are as follows. Length from 

 snout to root of tail eleven inches ; length of tail, nineteen inches 

 and three-quarters. The serrated spine, which is placed about 

 three inches from the root of the tail, is two inches and three- 

 quarters long. The breadth across the pectoral fins is eighteen 

 inches and a half. The colour is a greenish brown on the back, 

 and white underneath. The fin rays give the fish the appear- 

 ance of being covered with striae. 



The first account we have of the occurrence of this species in 

 the British Seas is in 1769, and is mentioned by Pennant in his 

 " British Zoology." The next is in 1839, when a specimen was 

 found on the shore at Spittal, near Berwick-upon-Tweed, an 

 account of which is given in the first volume of the Berwickshire 

 Club Transactions, by the late Dr. Johnston. 



Couch in his " British Pishes" mentions two or three instances 

 of its occurrence, but they cannot be said to be satisfactory. 



The specimen here described is now in the Museum of the 

 Natural History Society. — Joseph Wright. 



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