of Connecticut and Massachusetts. -i? 



Most of the specimens accompanying this communication were 

 found about four miles S. W. of Middletown, at a spot known 

 by the local name of " Saw Mill Hollow." The remaining 

 specimens are from a locality about five miles north of the latter 

 in the parish of Wcstfield. The latter sectional name has some- 

 times been confounded with Westfield, Mass., at which place I 

 am not aware that any ichthyolites have been found, although 

 its geological character differs little from that of the other towns 

 of the Connecticut river valley. In the locality first mentioned, 

 the bituminous shale in which the fishes are found occurs inter- 

 stratified with the sandstone, and is exposed to view at the bottom 

 of a ravine, twenty or thirty feet in depth, which has been ex- 

 cavated by the action of a small stream. The strata both here 

 and at Westfield are nearly horizontal. Some layers of the shale 

 abound, not only in remains of fishes, but also in those of vege- 

 tables, apparently endogenous, while others are nearly destitute 

 of both. The substance of the fish, as well as that of the vege- 

 table, is converted into carbonaceous matter, and it is observ- 

 able that while the form of the scales and rays is perfectly and 

 beautifully preserved, there are no traces of the bones remaining. 

 According to Agassiz, this is almost universally the case with 

 the individuals of the family Lcjndoidcs, to which these belong. 



The specimen, No. 9, # is a large well marked individual of 

 the Palctoniscus fultus, Agass. a species characterized by the 

 size and strength of the anterior accessory rays of the (ins. 

 No. 10 is probably referable to the same species. 



The specimens numbered 1, 2, 3, and 4, with probably 

 most of the fragments accompanying them, are entirely distinct 

 from the above, and constitute a genus hitherto undescribed, 

 presenting the following characters : 



Body fusiform, covered with rhomboidal scales, which ex- 

 tend obliquely across it, and parallel with its length. Beaks 



Tho numbers refer to specimens now in the collection of the Lyceum, 



