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  THE 
  EXTINCT 
  VERTEBRATE 
  ANIMALS 
  

  

  signal 
  success, 
  as 
  we 
  shall 
  presently 
  see, 
  nor 
  can 
  I 
  omit 
  to 
  mention 
  

   the 
  name 
  of 
  the 
  Eev. 
  Mr. 
  M'Kemmie, 
  schoolmaster 
  at 
  Alves, 
  to 
  

   whose 
  kindness 
  the 
  Edinburgh 
  Museum 
  is 
  indebted 
  for 
  several 
  

   interesting 
  specimens 
  from 
  the 
  quarries 
  in 
  the 
  immediate 
  vicinity 
  

   of 
  his 
  place 
  of 
  work. 
  

  

  Sub-class 
  ELASMOBRANCHIL 
  

   Order 
  SELACHII. 
  

   Family 
  PSAMMOSTEIDiE. 
  

  

  Genus 
  PSAMMOSTEUS, 
  Agassiz. 
  

   Psammosteus 
  Taylori, 
  Traquair, 
  1894. 
  

   Syn. 
  Megalaspis 
  Taylori, 
  Traq. 
  

  

  (PI. 
  vi. 
  figs. 
  1-3.) 
  

  

  Among 
  the 
  fish-remains 
  from 
  the 
  Alves 
  district 
  collected 
  by 
  the 
  late 
  

   Eev. 
  Dr. 
  Gordon 
  more 
  than 
  twenty 
  years 
  ago, 
  and 
  now 
  in 
  the 
  

   Elgin 
  Museum, 
  I 
  observed 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  large 
  plates, 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  

   fragmentary, 
  which 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  shared 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  l 
  Pterichthys 
  

   major 
  J 
  with 
  every 
  other 
  plate 
  of 
  any 
  size 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  Upper 
  Old 
  

   Red 
  Sandstone. 
  That 
  these 
  were 
  totally 
  unlike 
  the 
  remains 
  of 
  

   any 
  Asterolepid 
  was 
  obvious 
  enough, 
  but 
  as 
  to 
  what 
  they 
  were 
  I 
  

   had 
  no 
  clew, 
  and 
  being 
  occupied 
  with 
  other 
  matters 
  I 
  allowed 
  the 
  

   question 
  to 
  become 
  dormant. 
  In 
  1884 
  a 
  specimen 
  from 
  Newton 
  

   was 
  purchased 
  for 
  the 
  Edinburgh 
  Museum 
  from 
  the 
  late 
  Mr. 
  

   Jenkins 
  of 
  Elgin. 
  

  

  About 
  a 
  year 
  and 
  a 
  half 
  ago 
  I 
  was 
  induced 
  to 
  take 
  the 
  matter 
  

   up 
  by 
  my 
  friend 
  Mr. 
  William 
  Taylor 
  of 
  Lhanbryde, 
  who 
  had 
  suc- 
  

   ceeded 
  in 
  procuring 
  some 
  additional 
  specimens 
  from 
  Newton 
  Quarry, 
  

   among 
  which 
  was 
  one 
  of 
  a 
  more 
  perfect 
  contour 
  than 
  any 
  I 
  had 
  

   previously 
  seen. 
  None 
  of 
  these 
  specimens 
  from 
  the 
  Elgin 
  district 
  

   showed 
  any 
  trace 
  of 
  external 
  ornament, 
  but 
  my 
  attention 
  had 
  

   been 
  drawn 
  to 
  Psammosteus 
  by 
  a 
  fragment 
  from 
  Balnagown 
  in 
  

   Ross-shire, 
  lent 
  to 
  me 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Hugh 
  Miller 
  of 
  H. 
  M. 
  Geological 
  

   Survey, 
  which 
  showed 
  in 
  patches 
  the 
  remains 
  of 
  an 
  ornament 
  

   resembling 
  that 
  figured 
  by 
  Agassiz 
  in 
  Russian 
  fragments 
  belonging 
  

   to 
  that 
  genus 
  (22, 
  tab. 
  27, 
  figs. 
  2-6). 
  Nevertheless, 
  not 
  feeling 
  

   certain 
  about 
  the 
  identity 
  of 
  Mr. 
  Miller's 
  specimen 
  with 
  those 
  from 
  

   Elgin, 
  I 
  exhibited 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  latter 
  at 
  the 
  meeting 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  

  

  