56 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF DUBLIN. 



and which is the same at the end as it was at the beginning of the pro- 

 cess ; and others are equally displeased with the suggestion that it is de- 

 pendent upon a direct conversion of vital force into light. In some cases 

 chemical action goes far towards the explanation ; but the more this 

 subject is studied, the less inclined will one be to advance any positive 

 opinion upon its cause and nature, and the more convinced will they 

 become that animal luminosity is one of the most subtle and marvellous 

 phenomena of nature. 



[The following Paper " on Orthagoriscus oblongus'' (the oblong 

 sunfish), read by Mr. Andrews at a meeting of the Natural History 

 Society, 14th of November, 1845, and hitherto unpublished, is here 

 inserted in accordance with an order of the Council that it should 

 appear in this volume of the " Proceedings," with a coloured drawing 

 of the fish.] 



Among the donations that are this evening to be acknowledged, I 

 may take the opportunity of making some general remarks upon the 

 oblong sunfish, Orthagoriscus oblongus. It was taken in the early part 

 of last month (October, 1845), at Tramore, near Waterford, and se- 

 cured to the ichthyology of this country, through the vigilance of a 

 member of the Society, Dr. Farran, a naturalist ever most active in 

 promoting the knowledge of, and investigating the natural history of 

 his native country. This fish has, through his kindness, been pre- 

 sented to the Society, a valuable addition, indeed, to the Museum, to be 

 placed with the other fine species in the Society's collection, the short 

 sunfish, Orthagoriscus mola. 



I have, however, to express my extreme regret that the circum- 

 stances under which it came into my "possession, prevented an examina- 

 tion of its characters until decomposition had almost obliterated its in- 

 ternal organisation. A beautiful and accurate drawing had been made 

 before its external characters or any change of their true features were 

 lost. 



As far as I have been enabled to trace, this appears to be the fifth 

 occurrence of the capture of this fish on the coasts of Britain. Dr. 

 Borlase is mentioned as having been the first who described it as British, 

 noticing, in his " Natural History of Cornwall," a specimen from 

 Mounts Bay, and he also describes one of large size taken near Ply- 

 mouth, in 1734, which weighed 5001bs. Donovan has figured in his 

 " Natural History of British Fishes" a small specimen obtained in the 

 Bristol Channel, and from which Mr. Yarrell's figure in his " History 

 of British Fishes" is copied. The fourth specimen on record is that 

 described by Mr. Couch, in the sixth volume of the " Annals and Ma- 

 gazine of Natural History," taken at Par, in Cornwall, in September, 

 1840. 



The oblong Sunfish, together with its allied species, the short Sun- 

 fish, belongs to the order Plectognathi. The principal distinctive cha- 

 racters are the maxillary and intermaxillary bones being firmly at- 

 tached or soldered as one entire piece, forming an immovable jaw, con- 



