IV.—On Cœlacanthus Phillipsii, Agassiz

Extract

The late Prof. Louis Agassiz, whilst on a visit to Halifax with Prof. John Phillips, during the years in which he was preparing his “Recherches sur les Poissons fossiles,” identified the caudal extremity of a large species of Cœlacanth fish to which he appended the name of Cœlacanthus Phillipsii in honour of his friend. The specimen is from a large “baum-pot,” as the calcareous nodules are locally termed, obtained from the Lower Coal-measures. This specimen was found at the Swan Bank Pit at Halifax, and, so far as I know, is the only one which has been discovered. The surface exposed by splitting the nodule is 0.295m. diameter, and the part of the fish preserved extends across it; it consists of the caudal portion of a large individual, which, had it been perfectly preserved, would have been between four and five feet in length.