66 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



must both have been but recently ushered into the world. 

 If the native theory is correct, the Ukpam would appear 

 therefore to be viviparous, its young being hatched in the 

 oviduct prior to expulsion — and to have two young ones, or, 

 at least, the birth of one young one must very rapidly succeed 

 the other ; as I am unable to detect any difference of age, ex- 

 cept in the rather greater size and bulk of one of the speci- 

 mens, which, however, appear to resemble one another very 

 closely in all respects. 



These young specimens of the Ukpam are of a uniformly 

 rounded outline, rather longer than broad, and diminish a 

 little in breadth, towards the long whip-like tail ; one mea- 

 sures from the slightly projecting snout to the extremity of 

 the tail 40J inches ; the other is about one inch shorter ; the 

 body of the larger one measures 11J inches to the extremity 

 of the inner lobe of the ventral fins. The tail itself is 30 

 inches in length. The fish is about 10 J inches in its greatest 

 breadth a little in front of the middle, the smaller one 

 measuring about 10 inches ; the pectoral fins surround the 

 head, and are produced in front in the mesial line about ^ of 

 an inch : from this point, to the large and very prominent 

 eyes, it measures 2J inches ; and the eyes are 2 inches apart. 

 The upper eyelid has a rounded adnate projection There is a 

 large round-shaped fossa on each side, immediately behind and 

 below the eyes, of an inch in length by about an inch in breadth, 

 across the back part of which are the large temporal openings 

 or blow-holes. The body above is full and thick, rising up 

 from the disc at about 2 inches from the snout, and forming 

 an oval rounded projection slightly contracted in the middle, 

 which is surrounded by the flattened and thin margins of the 

 pectoral fins ; this raised and projecting part of the body 

 measures about 8 inches long, by 5 across the abdomen. The 

 pectoral fins are rounded along the margins of the fish, and 

 posteriorly they are deeply rounded at their termination about 

 \ an inch from the insertion of the tail ; and, with the ven- 

 trals, complete the general broadly ovate character of the fish. 

 The ventrals are undivided posteriorly ; a thickish rounded 

 lobe forms the inner margin of the fin, and projects beyond it 

 \ of an inch \ these lobes are present in both of the specimens, 



