274 Voyage aux Indes Orientales. 



and of the immature young somewhat similar to what he has re- 

 presented. 



Reptiles, par Rene-Primevere Lesson. — This portion of the work is 

 confined to the mere descriptions of thirty-three species, seven of 

 which are figured. One or two new genera and families are pro- 

 posed, but the characters are so slightly and shortly given, that it is 

 not necessary to notice them. And Teiraonyx, Mr Gray remarks, ap- 

 pears to be formed from an imperfect specimen of a young Emys. 

 The same gentleman considers Emys Belangerii as identical with 

 E. trijuga; E. flavonigra as E. thuga; and E. trigibbosa as E. 

 tecta. 



Poissons, par A. Valenciennes. — Commences by a few short preli- 

 minary observations. Upon the coast of Malabar, to judge from the 

 collection of Belanger, and the fishes also procured by Dussumier, 

 the family of the Scienoides among the Acanthropterygii, and of the 

 Clupeadse among the Malacopterygii are the most numerous. At 

 the same time the absence of many jugular fishes is particularly 

 remarkable upon a generally sandy shore ; and the Apodes also 

 seem few in number. The fresh waters possess some curious 

 forms, particularly of the Cyprinoides, of which M. Belanger col- 

 lected a considerable number, but in the river fishes he has been 

 in a great measure anticipated by the work of Hamilton Bu- 

 chanan, although that author is not perhaps always correct in the 

 generic situation of his species. Eighteen species are in all de- 

 scribed, of which ten are figured. Pterois'is a curiously formed genus, 

 and the members of it ascend the fresh waters periodically like the 

 Salmonidee. They also appear to undergo a seasonal change of co- 

 lour. The abode in the fresh water is, however, so detrimental, 

 that they become weak, and are even carried down the stream upon 

 their sides, while after a sojourn in the salt water, their active habits 

 and brilliant silvery tints are speedily recovered. M. Valenciennes 

 asks what is the cause of this, and remarks, " that we cannot be- 

 lieve that the act of spawning is the only cause of the disease of 

 those fishes, for it is certain that many species of salmon periodical- 

 ly enter the river, and do not every time spawn. (Car il est incontes- 

 table, que plusieurs especes de saumon entrent periodiquement dans 

 les rivieres, et qu'elles n'y fraient pas chaque fois.) A fact stated 

 so, by an ichthyologist of such celebrity, must have some weight. We 

 are not aware that it is a common fact, or a fact at all, that any 

 of the salmon periodically enter rivers and return without spawning ; 

 but as he promises to dilate upon these and other points when treat- 

 ing; of the Salmonidae in the Histoire Naturelle des Poissons, now de- 



