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Show 1895.] ON DOUBLE MALFORMATIONS AMONGST FISHES. 423 and has taken two from the inside of an Otter he killed. It is not absolutely known at what age the Otter arrives at maturity ; Mr. Snow believes that they do so in the third year. "Habits. Crabs and sea-urchins are the usual contents of the stomach, but occasionally small fish and spawn are also found. The crabs are crushed by the strong molar teeth ; it being impossible that the crushing is produced by the striking of two shells together iu the manner described by Elliot, as the form of the fore feet will not allow of anything being grasped. The Otter dives for its food and returns to the surface with the prey held between its two fore paws, in which it continues to hold it while eating it. On many occasions M r . Snow has seen schools of from 10 to 50 or more Otters together some 10 or 15 miles from any land, but not of late years. " Hunting. The mode adopted by Europeans is to ' run' the Sea-Otter with three boats, each manned by 4 or 5 men, a hunter being in the bow armed with a rifle. W h e n an Otter is 'raised' (as it is called)the boats proceed to surround it, lying some 500 to 600 yards apart in the form of a triangle. The boats are so manoeuvred that the otter is kept between them. Every time the animal makes its appearance above water, it is shot at, until it is secured. When the Sea-Otter is netted, as described on page 101 of the volume cited, it becomes entangled in the meshes and drowned. The long white hairs of the fur, which are not removed in dressing, form its chief beauty." Apart from the interesting account of the creature's habits, the especial importance of these notes is in regard to the doubling back of the hind feet, and the jumping motion in walking; in both of which respects the Sea-Otter appears to resemble the true Seals. I regret m y correspondent has not sent m e a photograph of the living animal; but the accompanying reproduction of a photograph of a recently killed specimen, as it lay on deck (p. 422), gives a good idea of the form of the hind feet and tail. 4. On Double Malformations amongst Fishes. By BERTRAM C . A . W I N D L E , D.Sc, M.D.,M.A., Professor of Anatomy in Mason College, Birmingham. [Eeceived May 10, 1895.] (Plate XXV.) I. Introduction. The following observations are based upon the examination of about fifty trout-embryos presenting some grade, more or less advanced, of double monstrosity, and upon the descriptions of similar or allied forms to be met with in the literature of the subject, which I have endeavoured to examine as exhaustively as possible. As I shall have to allude to most of these papers in a later part of this communication, I shall here content myself with |