separate the gill-clefts and carry the vascular gill lamellae. All the arches lie near the inner margins of the septa, close to the hypoblastic epithelium of the pharynx, while the outer portions of the septa are supported by the branchial rays and the extra-branchials, the latter lying directly beneath the external skin. The segments of the arches are movably connected with one another by ligaments; and by the contraction of the branchial muscles the arches may be separated or approximated so as to enlarge or diminish the size of the intervening clefts. The _labial cartilages_ are represented by a pair of slender rods in relation with the outer surfaces of the palato-pterygo-quadrate cartilages, and a similar pair in connexion with the Meckelian cartilages. There is also a pair of small cartilages in relation with the nostrils. It is probable that the rods which constitute the lateral elements of the rostrum belong to the same category. In the Cyclostomes and the Elasmobranchs the skull is entirely cartilaginous, although it may often be superficially calcified in Elasmobranchs, and although there may even be definitely and symmetrically arranged calcified plates in _Pleuracanthus_, true bone is never present. In many Fishes, and notably in the Teleostomi, {211}the embryonic cartilaginous cranium becomes complicated by the addition of an extensive series of investing membrane bones, formed by the ossification of the connective tissue external to the cartilage, so that a secondary bony cranium is formed external to the primary cranium much in the same way that a secondary pectoral girdle is formed in connexion with the primary girdle. Such bones probably owe their primary origin to the fusion and insinking of exoskeletal structures (scales or dermal spines). To these investing bones there may also be added a series of bones formed by the actual conversion of the cranial cartilage into osseous tissue (cartilage bones), which to a greater or less extent in different Fishes replaces the original cartilage. The bones of the skull may conveniently be classified as follows:—(i.) _Dermal or membrane bones_. Under this head are included—(_a_) the ordinary investing bones of the skull. (_b_) _Tooth-bones_, that is, bones formed by the fusion of the bases of teeth and developed in relation with the walls of the oral cavity. Probably all tooth-bearing bones are of this nature. (_c_) _Sensory canal bones_, that is, tubular bones developed round the sensory canals of the head. Certain of these bones may secondarily acquire the shape and character of investing bones while still retaining protective relations to their sensory canals. (ii.) _Cartilage bones_.