SOLE. 
373 
Siillsk. Tidskr., I, p. 312; Ekstr., Skancl. Fisk., eel. 1, p. 
165, Wright, tab. 30. 
Solea vulgaris , Qvens., Vet.-Akad. Hand]., 1806, p. 230; 
Hollb., BesTcr. Boh. Fisk., part. Ill (Gbgs. Vett. Vitt. Samh. 
N. Hand]., V, 1822), p. 59 c. iig. ; Gottsche, Arch. Naturg., 
1835, p. 182; Bonap., Icon. Fn. Ital., tom. Ill, Pesci , I, 
num. p. leg. 101; Yarr., Hist. Brit. Fish., ed. 2, vol. II, 
p. 347; Kr., Damn. Fislce, vol. II, p. 467; Nilss., Slcand. 
Fn., Fisk., p. 651; Gthr, Cat. Brit. Mils., Fish., vol. IV, 
p. 463; Steind., Stzber. Akad Wiss. Wien, Math. Naturw. 
Cl., Bd. LVII, i, 1868, p. 720; Coll., Vid. Selsk. Forb. 
Christ., 1874, Tillsegsh., p. 148; ibid. 1879, No. 1, p. 83; 
Winth., Naturh. Tidskr. Kbbvn, ser. 3, vol. XII (1879), p. 
41; Buckland, Nat. Hist. Brit. Fish., p. 184; Mor., Hist. 
Nat. Poiss. Fr., tom. Ill, p. 304; Day, Fish. Gt. Brit., 
Irel., vol. II, p. 39, tab. CVI; M6b., Hoke, Fisch. Osts., 
p, 100; Lillj., Sv., Norg. Fisk., vol. II, p. 416. 
Solea Linnei, Malm, Gbgs , Boh. Fn., p. 532. 
The ordinary length of the Sole on the west coast 
of Sweden is from 30 to 35 cm. The largest specimen 
Ekstrom saw, was 52 cm. long. Further south the 
species attains a greater size. Yarrell mentions a 
specimen from the English coast off Totness that was 
26 in. long and weighed 9 lbs. The largest Soles Buck- 
land could procure for his museum, were two from 
Ireland, which together weighed nearly 5 1 / 2 kgm. The 
body is of an elongated oval form, deepest in front, 
and thin. The greatest depth, which occurs at the end 
of the first third of the length of the body, measures 
between the bases of the dorsal and anal fins, about 
v 3 of the length from the tip of the snout to the end 
of the caudal fin, and when the breadth is taken be- 
tween the margins of the dorsal and anal fins when 
expanded, J / 2 the length to the base of the caudal 
tin. The least depth, just in front of the base of 
the caudal fin, is about Vis °f the length of the 
body to the end of the caudal fin. The greatest thick- 
ness is Vi 3 of the length of the body to the base of 
the caudal fin or ’/c °f the greatest depth between the 
fins. The curves of the dorsal and ventral margins are 
similar. The head is blunt, with rounded, soft and 
fleshy snout, which curves downwards towards the gape, 
resembling a parrot’s beak, but surrounds only the tip 
of the lower jaw. The mouth is small, the cleft of the 
mouth curved in a crescent shape, but larger, more 
curved and with more fleshy lips on the blind side 
than on the eye side. On the eye side, however, the 
under lip forms a dermal fold, which covers the mar- 
gin of the upper jaw when the mouth is closed; on 
the blind side the margins of both jaws are sur- 
rounded by a round swelling. On the eye side of the 
mouth there are no teeth; but on the blind side both 
jaws are furnished with very fine, setiform, movable 
teeth, which are set in several irregular rows, so densely 
that they form broad patches. This structure is not 
fully apparent, however, until the mouth is dissected. 
Then we find that the jaw-bones of the eve side are 
considerably reduced. In front of the tip of the vomer 
— the head of which is furnished posteriorly on each 
side with an articular surface for the palatine bones — 
lies the articular knob of the maxillary bone. This 
upper (proximal) part of the maxillary bone sends out 
a process which covers the outside of the upright nasal 
process of the intermaxillary bone, while the maxillary 
bone proper projects downwards in the form of a some- 
what. curved osseous body, triangular above and terete 
below (distally), and forming the framework of the 
upper jaw. The intermaxillary bone of this side, on 
the other hand, is so reduced that it consists almost 
exclusively of the triangular, articular part. The latter, 
however, sends out an upright nasal process, in the 
arch formed by the downward curve of the front end 
of the ethmoid bone, and is so developed and curved 
towards the blind side that there it meets and articu- 
lates with the intermaxillary bone of that side, thus 
forming the true middle part of the margin of the 
mouth. On its own side, however, this intermaxillary 
bone is merely a pointed splinter, lying along the an- 
terior side of the maxillary bone, and occupying about 
half the length of the latter. On the blind side the 
intermaxillary bone is the most powerful bone in the 
upper jaw, and is shaped like a sharply curved scythe, 
the handle of which consists of the articular part of 
the bone. This part sends out its nasal process obli- 
quely forward, in the direction of the eye side and in 
front of the upright nasal process of the latter, in the 
shape of a pointed spine. In front, on the ‘handle’, 
this intermaxillary bone is also quite toothless; but the 
under (inner) surface of the bent part of this bone is very 
densely covered with teeth, which strongly remind us of 
the dentition of the Chcetodontidce. The maxillary bone 
of the blind side essentially resembles that of the eye 
side, but is more robust, longer, and curved, and for 
the greater part of its length behind the articular 
part is entirely hidden by the intermaxillary bone. 
The structure of the lower jaw is no less singular. 
Its two halves are considerably different from each 
other; the half on the eye side is not very unlike 
the branch of the lower jaw in the generality of fishes, 
especially in the Plaice, for example: but it is entirely 
