[This is not the first time that attention has been called to these gigantic fishes in the pages of this magazine. In 'The Zoologist' (1849, p. 2358), the late Edward Newman gave an account by Capt. Hamilton of the capture of a specimen in the Gulf of California, which measured nineteen feet across the back. For this unidentified species Mr. Newman proposed the provisional name of Brachioptilon hamiltoni, which by Jordan and Evermann, in their 'Fishes of North and Middle America,' is placed as a synonym of Manta birostris (Walbaum). This fish, generally recorded under the name of Ceratoptera vampyrus, attains a width of twenty feet. Gosse, in referring to this animal under the generic name of Cephaloptera, gives a sensational narrative:—"Col. Hamilton Smith, in the neighbourhood of Trinidad, had the pain of witnessing a fellow-creature involved in the horrible embrace of one of these monsters. It was at early dawn that a soldier was endeavouring to desert from the ship by swimming on shore. A sailor from aloft, seeing the approach of one of these terrific fishes, alarmed the swimmer, who endeavoured to return; but, in sight of his comrades, was presently overtaken, the creature throwing over him one of its huge fins, and thus carrying him down." The same writer also gives the following extract from a Barbadoes paper:—"On the 22nd of August [1843] the brig 'Rowena' was lying in La Guayra Roads, the weather perfectly calm. I discovered the vessel moving about among the shipping. I could not conceive what could be the matter. I gave orders to heave in, and see if the anchor was gone, but it was not; but, to my surprise, I found a tremendous monster entangled fast in the buoy-rope, and moving the anchor slowly along the bottom. I then had the fish towed on shore. It was of a flattish shape, something like a devil-fish, but very curious shape, being wider than it was long, and having two tusks, one on each side of the mouth, and a very small tail in proportion to the fish, and exactly like a bat's tail. The tail can be seen on board the brig 'Rowena.' Dimensions of the fish were as follows:—Length from end of tail to end of tusks, 18 ft.; from wing to wing, 20 ft.; the mouth 4 ft. wide; and its weight 3502 lb." ('The Ocean,' pp. 193–4).
According to Prof. Seeley, the Ox Ray, or Sea-Devil (Dicerobatis giornæ) has been captured in the Mediterranean, 28 ft. wide and 21 ft. long, and estimated to weigh a ton. Mr. Lydekker has stated that an Indian representative of Dicerobatis is known to measure 18 ft. across the disc, and a weight of over 1200 lb. has been recorded.
Mr. Boulenger (Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. vi. vol. xx. p. 227, 1897) has described a new genus and species from Jamaica, allied to Ceratoptera (Ceratobasis robertsii). The specimen was a young one, but the species is said to grow to a very large size; "but specimens are almost impossible to obtain, owing to the superstitious fear of the fishermen."
The species here figured probably belongs to the genus Dicerobatis, but as dentition principally separates that genus from Cephaloptera, absolute certainty cannot be obtained from a photograph alone.—Ed.]
An Antelope protecting its Young.—There are many instances recorded in which animals have displayed remarkable courage in the protection of their young, and they will frequently expose themselves to imminent danger, though this is common alike
