1911.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 483 



laevigata; then 1| finely striate whorls follow, after which the striae 

 weaken to low irregular wrinkles. The last 1| whorls have fine 

 granules in spiral lines, as in the Great Smoky Mountain monticola. 

 The soft anatomy has not been examined. It has been found at 

 Tallassee Ford of the Little Tennessee River, Monroe County, 

 Tenn., and at Chambers Creek Church, Swain County, N. C. 



Mesomphix (?) perfragilis (Wetherby). 



Zonites ■perfragilis A. G. Wetherby, Notes on American Land Shells, Journ. 

 Cincinnati Soc. Nat. Hist., IV, p. 326, 1881 (undescribed). Same journal 

 for 1894, p. 215. 



On principle I oppose the introduction of MS. or "provisional" 

 names into print, because any name not fully defined entails labor 

 and waste of time upon others. Since this name has been printed, 

 it may be well to give what information I can. I quote from a 

 letter received from Wetherby years ago, date not preserved. "I 

 tell you about Zonites perfragilis W., MS., so that in case you should 

 go into the limestone region of middle Tennessee you may be on 

 the lookout for it. It is a species built much on the plan of Z. 

 Icevigatus and varies in size as that does. All the specimens yet 

 found have a shell thinner than that of Vitrina limpida. I first 

 found it in a sink-hole in a cedar glade on the Murphreesboro Pike 

 about two miles out of Nashville, in August, 1875. Not doubting 

 my ability to clean them, with care, I plunged them into hot water, 

 but the experiment was fatal. I lost them all. I next put some in 

 alcohol, but before we got back to Cincinnati they were reduced to 

 nothing as to the shells. It is not uncommon, I think, in the limestone 

 sink-holes, especially in the damper parts." 



In 1894 Wetherby gave the following description : " As thin and 

 pellucid as Vitrina limpida, the shells being extremely fragile and 

 delicate. They were much flattened, and the umbilical opening was 

 much larger than typical Icevigatus." Rutherford County, Tenn. 

 This description was from memory, the specimens having been lost 

 as noted above. 



In another letter Wetherby reiterates the opinion that perfragilis 

 is a very distinct species. It should be easy to find the original 

 locality and to recognize the species from the details given above. 

 They could probably be cleaned successfully if drowned before 

 boiling. Otherwise the forcible retraction of the animal, in shells 

 so fragile, breaks them up. 



Mesomphix subplana (Binn.). 



The caudal pore resembles that of Omphalina pilsbryi. 



The penis has a long, slender, flagelliform terminal gland, 5 mm. 



