484 BihliograpJiical Notice. tion, the veutral surface is uppermost, the pectoral, ventral, anal, caudal fins can be more or less satisfactorily made out ; the dorsal surface is absent. The length is 3 feet 8| inches, of which the head measures about 10 inches, and the tail (from the end of which 5 or 6 inches may be wanting) about a foot. Judging by the large skull figured by Agassiz and preserved in the Leeds Museum, Megalicli-thys may have attained a length of from 4 to 5 feet. The skull shows the mandible and mandibular teeth, the end of the snout, the opercula, and the jugular plates. The pectoral fins show the obtuse lobate character, previously suspected by Huxley to obtain in this genus. Large basal scales lie on each side of each pectoral fin. The ventral fins are abdominal. The right, which is best pre-served, exhibits the arrangement of the scales which is described, and which gives a clue to the disposition of the underlying bones or cartilages. This must have closely resembled that in some Elasmo-branchs. The same type of fin may be traced, though with important modifications, m Polypterus^ Polyodon, and Acijoenser, whilst in other recent Ganoids and in Teleostei the arrangement is widely different. Between the ventral fins are three large scales, one median and two lateral. On the left side of the median scale lies what appears to be the anus. A similar arrangement seems to occur in Pterkli-thys. This region is rarely exposed in fossils. The anal fin has also its pair of large basal scales. The caudal fin cannot be well made out. There are indications of the under-lying skeleton, but nothing can be distinctly made out. All the features of the present fossil confirm the opinion long ago expressed by Pander and Huxley as to the near affinity of Megal-ichthys to Osteolepis and Diplopterus. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. Geological and Natural-History Si(,rvey of Canada : Catalogue of Canadian Plants. — Parti. Pohjpetaloi. By JohnMacoun, M.A., F.L.S., r.R.S.C. Montreal, 1883. Most of our colonial governments have recognized in an enlight-ened manner the great importance, even from a merely commercial stand-point, of a complete stock-taking of their natural productions. Mineral wealth has no doubt generally been looked to first ; and the necessity for the conservation of forests and of animals yielding food and clothing has not always been recognized so readily as the immediate profit to be obtained from them ; but the value of the knowledge of what plants and animals the country contains has led to the frequent conjunction of Natural History departments with State Geological Surveys. This healthy sign of wise counsels is seen in the work before us — the first part of a catalogue of Canadian
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