of Edinburgh, Session 1872-73. 51 
of the P . gladius, measuring 26^ inches = 652 millimeters ; secondly , 
an opened specimen measuring 40 inches = 1070 millimetres; 
thirdly , three pieces of an adult fish that measured fully 9 feet long 
= 2720 millimetres; and fourthly , apiece of an almost adult fish 
that was not measured. He showed also four large drawings, and 
twenty-four smaller ones (including nineteen microscopic views), 
illustrative of his description of the External Characters and 
Structure of the fish, under the ten following heads : — 
1st, Its size, weight, &c.; 2d, its form; 3d, its surface and 
colour ; 4th, its fins ; 5th, its proportional parts ; 6th, its lateral 
line and system of muciparous pores ; 7th, its exo- or dermo-skele- 
ton and tegumentary system; 8th, its spatula, rostrum, or snout; 
9th, its eyes, mouth, and teeth ; and 10th, its branchiae, pseudo- 
branchiae, and spiracula. 
In the course of his paper, the author -remarked that a specimen 
had been seen by Mr H. Gr. Hollingworth, resident at Kiu-Kiang, 
on the same river, reaching to the length of 15 feet, and weighing 
133 lbs.; that in regard to edible properties, the young fish was 
said to be very delicate eating; that the body was compressed, 
elongated, and tapering towards the tail, like the sturgeon family 
generally. The head was projected beyond the mouth into an 
elongated muzzle or spatula. This snout was thin at the margins, 
but thick and keeled in the centre ; in young specimens it was 
sharp at the point, but it afterwards got blunted and rounded off by 
digging among the silt of the river bottom. The eyes of the fish 
were of very small size, and it was supposed that the sensibility of 
the spatula compensated for the want of larger ones. 
The 2d Part of Dr Handyside’s paper will consist of an anato- 
mical description of the nervous and muscular systems ; the 3d 
Part of the viscera of organic life ; and the 4th Part of the articular’ 
system and the endo-skeleton of the Polyodon gladius . 
2. Note on the Thermal Equivalents of the Oxide of 
Chlorine. By James Dewar, Esq. 
Two years ago the author submitted to the British Association 
a preliminary report on the subject, which has not been prosecuted, 
