On Argentine and Anchovy on the Coast of Caithness, 259 
mation, and, if new, examine for themselves. I ought to 
observe, that I am quite aware that this upward turn is, as 
a foetal one, well known : it is of adult fish that I now speak. 
Whether new or not, it appears to have escaped Cuvier's 
notice, for he says, " The one-sided condition of tail exists 
in no recent osseous fish known to naturalists, except the 
bony pike, — a Sauroid fish of the warmer rivers of America." 
Such is no longer the case, for the trout and salmon of our 
coast must be added to it ; not having had an opportunity 
of examining any other of the Salmonidse, I cannot say 
whether this peculiarity runs through the whole family. 
The Secretary exhibited several diagrams in illustration 
of some of the various degrees of change, which appear to 
have taken place in the caudal termination of the vertebral 
column of fishes, from the Silurian periods to those of our 
own day. 
It was stated that Professor Goodsir had been in the 
habit for many years of exhibiting and describing, in his 
lectures on comparative anatomy, the upward terminal curve* 
of the vertebral column in the tail of fishes. It was a fact 
long known to Knox and to other anatomists here. Mr 
Peach, however, had the merit of discovering a fact, pre- 
viously unknown to himself, and of calling special attention 
to it, in relation to the fossil fish of past ages. 
V. Ornithological Notes. 
(1.) Larus glaucus. Glaucous Gull. By P. A. Dassauville, Esq. 
Mr Dassauville exhibited a specimen of the glaucous gull, 
Larus glaucus (Temm), sent by Mr Small, bird-stufi'er. It 
was recently shot by E. J. Hebden of Eday, Esq., Orkney, 
and appears to be in the pale yellowish grey mottled plum- 
age of its second winter. The bird is rare, and is not known 
to breed in any part of the British Islands. 
(2.) Cygnus Bewickii. Bewick's Swan. By John Alex. Smith, M.D. 
Dr Smith exhibited a fine specimen of our smallest British 
swan, Cygnus Bewickii (Yar.), which was killed on Loch 
* Vide Handbuch der Zootomii von V. Siebold und von Hermann Stannius, 
Berlin, 1854.— Ed. 
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