146 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



stances they are altogether wanting on one side. The position 

 of these bones is also different from what is the case in other 

 fishes, so that the bone termed the malleus is at a distance from 

 another called the incus, and it is serrated all round the border." 

 Mr. Higgins is right when he says the position of these bones 

 (" stones," he should have called them) is different from what is 

 the case in other fishes, for the asteriscus is so much more 

 completely embedded in a bony cavity, as mentioned ante ; it is 

 the largest of the otoliths in this fish, and so came under obser- 

 vation, the small rod-like sagitta being overlooked. The malleus, 

 as he calls it, is evidently the asteriscus as at present named ; 

 as he says, it has a serrated edge all round (see the illustrations 

 in the article on the " Asteriscus in Fishes " in the ' Zoologist,' 

 1910). The incus of Mr. Higgins is the lapillus, which, as he 

 describes it, is at a distance from the malleus (asteriscus). 

 Presumably Mr. Higgins was dealing only with British fishes, 

 and so did not come across specimens of the Characinidte, when 

 he would probably have recognized the resemblance in their case 

 to Carps. His evidence as to the occasional absence of the 

 otolith in the Carp is noteworthy. A converse case to the 

 absence of an otolith was met with once in a Lenciscus dobula 

 (the Dace), the " recessus utriculi " on the right side of the 

 head held two lapilli, whilst that on the left side held the normal 

 one lapillus. In this case, three lapilli having been found pre- 

 cludes any idea that by some chance the one from the left side 

 had got mixed up with that on the right side, and so account for 

 the two on this side. 



This paper cannot be concluded without recording, with 

 many thanks, the obligation the writer is under to many 

 institutions and personal friends for specimens received of fishes 

 described ; and in particular his indebtedness to Mr. R. H. 

 Burne, of the Royal College of Surgeons, for much help, always 

 most kindly given, in dissecting heads, and but for whose help 

 much of the interest of this article would have been wanting. 



