270 Proceedings oj the Royal Physical Society. 



and a quarter from the point of the snout, and at about 

 the same distance from one another, the forehead being 

 rather rounded between them, and towards the point of the 

 snout. About half an inch in front of the eyes, and about 

 three-quarters of an inch from the front of the snout, there 

 is on each side a pair of short cirri or tentacles, which pro- 

 ject about an eighth of an inch, and are the prolongation of 

 the olfactory organs. 



The body measured along the back, and including the 

 caudal fin, is about four times the length of the head. 

 Its upper part, from the upper and back part of the head, 

 to a little behind the pectoral fins, is thickly covered 

 with very small, short, and fine bristle-like spines or 

 prickles, which point backwards, making this part of the 

 body feel rough to the finger, as it is drawn from behind 

 forwards, while the rest of the body behind, and below, 

 is smooth ; on the under part of the throat and over the 

 dilatable belly, there are numerous small pits or punc- 

 tures in the fibrous-like structure of the elastic-looking skin, 

 which suggest, at least, the possibility of having been 

 filled with spines ; no remains of spines, however, were found 

 or felt in any of these little foramina, or any appearance of 

 them discovered in the bottle in which the fish was pre- 

 served. These small spaces or pits left between the inter- 

 lacing fibres of the skin may therefore be simply connected 

 with the great dilatability of the skin of this part of the 

 body. 



The Fins are nearly equal in length ; the pectorals, which 

 appear as if cut square across at their extremities, being 

 greatest in breadth, measuring an inch in length by one 

 inch in breadth, and consist of eighteen rays. These fins 

 are inserted about an inch and a quarter behind the eye, 

 and immediately in front of their bases are the branchial 

 openings, slightly curved backwards, and about half an inch 

 in length. The dorsal fin is situated at 5f inches distance 

 from the snout, measured along the back of the fish (the 

 back part of the fin being 1 j inch from the commencement 

 of the caudal fin), it is l£th inch in length by fths of an 

 inch in breadth at the base, tapers slightly in shape, and 



