352 INDIAN CYPRINIDiE. PceonomineB. 



so that the front of the lower jaw is composed of the two transverse limbs 

 a, e, c— PI. 54, f. 2, above described : «, is the point of union with its fellow at 

 the symphysis ; h, the articulating surface behind ; d, the body of the angular 

 bone corresponding with the analagous bone in the Perch, and with f. 4, 5, 

 20, and 21, PI. 54, in the Cirrhins. 



The intestinal canal was found to be sixteen feet in length in an individual 

 whose entire length was two feet, and loaded with a transparent viscid fluid, 

 as well as a grey pulpaceous substance. The coats of the intestines are 

 marked at short intervals by opaque muscular rings. The stomach is merely 

 distinguishable from the intestines by the longitudinal direction of its fibres, 

 and seemed to be without either cardiac or pyloric valves. The anterior 

 extremity of the stomach in an individual of the dimensions already men- 

 tioned, was large enough to admit the finger, while the posterior extremity 

 was about the size of a large goose quill. The liver is large, and consists 

 of elongated lobes of dark red colour, extending along each side of the 

 stomach. The air vessel consists chiefly of a great anterior cell of an almost 

 cylindric shape, with rounded extremities ; this is separated by means of a 

 stricture from a balloon-shaped posterior cell of considerably smaller capacity. 



I have entered thus fully into a description of this species, because it is not 

 only one of our most valuable fishes, but in a scentific point of view, is to be 

 regarded as the most perfect member of the group to which it belongs. 

 Its superiority in the one respect being fully established by its bulk, and the 

 frequency with which it is met with in the bazars as well as on our tables ; and 

 in the other, by the variety of its food, which consists, as well as I could deter- 

 mine from the contents of the stomach, of soft shell fish and vegetable matter, 

 a diversity of aliment which requires a higher degree of intelligence to select, 

 and a more perfect organization to procure and digest, than can be supposed 

 to belong to the ordinary species, which appear to subsist exclusively on 

 conferviCB, and other plants that abound in the waters of ponds and swamps, 

 where the Gudgeons of this country are chiefly found. 



