ox RAY. 
143 
given by Lacepede is of the under side only ; it agrees, 
however, very well in the general form and proportions, broad, 
recurved pectoral fins, frontal processes, and the small size of 
the tail. There is a very strong resemblance also between 
the present fish and the Indian C. Kuhlii, as figured by. 
Muller and Henl(5, particularly in the form of the lateral 
processes of the head, and the general proportions of the 
body; but our specimen and Dr. Tabroni’s seem to differ 
from that species in the small size of the head, and some 
minor points, in addition to the difference of habitat. 
“Length of the Irish specimen from the front to the dorsal 
fin one foot eight inches; eutii'e width three feet eight inches 
and a half; height of the dorsal fin two inches and a half, 
length the same; from one eye to the other eight inches.” 
Lor the sahe of brevity I will tahe from the accounts of 
Lacepede and Lisso only so much as may serve to afford a 
proper understanding of the nature and uses of the remarkable 
processes which have been compared to horns, and which 
form the principal portion of the character of this tribe of 
fishes, the employment of which appears to constitute a highly 
curious portion of their history. In the example described 
by Lacepede those processes were slender, moveable, and 
upwards of eighteen inches in length, thus measuring about a 
fourth part of the whole length of the body of the fish. 
They are formed of ribs of cartilage bound together with a 
membranous substance, so moulded as to be capable of being 
spread out like a fan, a structure which serves as well to 
enable the fish to feel its way, as to convey food to its mouth. 
Risso describes these processes in the recent fish as being 
whitish on the inside, tinted with blue on the outside, and 
very black at the extremity. It appears to have the power 
to unroll these processes at will, and to direct them towaids 
any object it wishes to approach. Its mouth is large, and the 
jaws are furnished with several rows of blunt teeth. There 
were two long appendages (apparently claspers) attached to 
the ventral fins; tail long, tapering, with three rows of rough 
elevations. The length of the example was between thirteen 
and fourteen feet. 
In the month of September, 1807, a female of this species, 
which weighed twelve hundred pounds, was caught in a stake- 
