2 Memoirs of the Indian Museum. [Voi,. II, 



size ; while off the coast of Arakan true fossiliferous rocks, apparently of Miocene 

 age, were encountered, their surface being densely coated with solitary corals and 

 molluscs of various kinds. 



It has been decided that the Museum shall publish a report on the fish captured 

 by the ' ' Golden Crown," and the present paper is the first part of that report. Dr. 

 J. Travis Jenkins, Scientific Adviser on Fisheries to the Government of Bengal, and 

 Mr. B. Iv- Chaudhuri, Assistant Commissioner of Fisheries, will deal with the Teleos- 

 teans, while the systematic study of the Elasmobranchs falls to me. Probably Dr. 

 Jenkins and I will deal jointly with the Selachians, as soon as we feel that the 

 collection is sufiiciently representative to be treated in a satisfactory manner. 



Since Dr. Jenkins caine out to India, in November, 1908, I have been indebted 

 very greatly to him for selecting and preserving specimens and for information about 

 specimens not preserved and the nature of the localities. It has not been possible 

 for me to go out on the trawler myself, but Dr. Jenkins has done so regularly and, quite 

 apart from his own work, has shown himself a most zealous coadjutor in the work of the 

 Museum. Captain R. E. Lloyd, I.M.S., has also gone out on the trawler for one trip, 

 and I am indebted to him for some interesting observations. I must express my 

 obligations to the Commissioner of Fisheries for allowing me to retain specimens for 

 the Museum and for obtaining a grant of Rs. 400 from the Government of Bengal 

 towards the expense of illustrating the report ; to Mr. B. L. Chaudhuri for much help 

 as regards the collection, and to the skipper. Captain Mann, and European crew of the 

 " Golden Crown." To deal with large and powerful animals such as a full-grown 

 saw-fish in such a way that they shall be suitable for scientific examination is a matter 

 not devoid of difiiculty and physical danger, and until November 1908 I was depen- 

 dent on Capt. Mann and his hands as regards the specimens retained for the Museum. 



The Batoidei, being mostly bottom-haunting species, are more commonly captured 

 in a trawl than any other large fish. Consequently it has been possible to obtain a 

 fairly complete collection with great expedition. Indeed, between June 1908 and 

 March 1909 about sixty per cent, of the forms now known to inhabit the seas of 

 British India have been captured by the " Golden Crown," while of the remaining 

 forty per cent, at least half of the species live either at great depths or on the surface 

 of the sea and would not therefore be taken in a trawl except by accident. 



In preparing the report on the Batoidei of the ' ' Golden Crown ' ' I have made 

 use not only of the old collection in the Indian Museum, but also of those in the Museum 

 of Madras and Trivandrum, both of which, thanks to their respective heads, Mr. E. 

 Thurston and Eieut.-Col. F. W. Dawson, I have had the privilege of examining lately. 

 The specimens from the ' ' Golden Crown ' ' have been sent up to the Museum in ice, 

 and I have thus had an opportunity, in many cases, of comparing them in a fresh con- 

 dition with specimens long preserved dry or in alcohol. This has proved a very valu- 

 able opportunity, for it has been found almost impossible to identify certain species by 

 means of the published descriptions on the basis of fresh material only. These 



