THE NAUTILUS. 139 



OLIVA LITTERATA, LAMARCK. 



BY WM. G. MAZYCK. 



In the February Nautilus Mr. Johnson substitutes Conrad's 

 name Oliva carolinensis for 0. circinata, Marrat, which he had 

 previously used for this well-known shell, Lamarck's name 

 having been pre-occupied by Bolten, overlooking the fact that 

 Dr. Edmund Ravenel had published the name Oliva sayana 

 twenty-nine years before Conrad's description of Dactylina 

 carolinenis. 



The little shelf of books which I dignify with the title of 

 " my Library" furnishes the following facts : 



In 1834 Dr. Ravenel published a Catalogue of the Recent 

 Shells in his Cabinet, on page 19 of which we find these entries : 

 " 0. litterata, Lam. 20 Ceylon. 

 * 0. Sayana, South Carolina. 



* 0. litterata, Say. 



* These shells are certainly distinct, and therefore should be 

 distinguished by different names. The 0. Sayana, sometimes 

 exceeds 3 inches in length fine specimens are rare worn speci- 

 mens not uncommon on the coast of South Carolina." 



In 1874 a second edition of this Catalogue was issued and on 

 page 16 we read : 



" 512 0. litterata, (0. Sayana, Rav. ) Sull. L, S. C. " 

 a clear indication that he recognized the specific identity of the 

 shells which he had formerly considered distinct. 



I find no further allusion to Ravenel's name until 1889 when 

 Dr. Dall mentions it as a synonym of 0. litterata Lam., in Blake 

 Moll., part 2, p. 133. With these facts before us it appears 

 that the correct synonymy is 



OLIVA SAYANA, Ravenel. 



Oliva litterata, Lamarck, Ann. Mus., xvi, p. 315, 1810. 

 Oliva literata, Say, Am. Conch., pi. 3, 1830. 

 Oliva sayana, Ravenel, Cat., p. 19, 1834. 

 Oliva cylindrica, Sowerby Quar. Jour. GeoL, vi, p. 45, 1849, 

 pars. 1 



1 Fide Johnson. 



