THE NAUTILUS. 129 



PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. 



A REVIEW OF THE AMERICAN VOLUTID^E. By "Wm. H. Ball. 

 (From the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, vol. 48, 1907.) 

 This paper is the revision promised by the author in his " Notes on 

 some names in the Volutidai," in THE NAUTILUS for April, 1906. 

 Some years ago Dr. Dall outlined two important groups of the Vol- 

 utidse as follows : 



1. Subfamily Scaphellinse, with a membranous protoconch which 

 is lost early in the intracapsular development and is replaced by a 

 shelly envelope, the secondary nature of which is evident in well pre- 

 served specimens. 



2. Subfamily Vohitinse, a shelly protoconch. In these forms there 

 is no membranous stage, the protoconch being shelly throughout its 

 history. This shelly apex is never naturally lost. 



His recent researches have shown that the type of the genus Sca- 

 phella belongs to the Volutina, and therefore the subfamily name 

 ScaphellincK has been given up and Caricellinse substituted for it. In 

 his review Dr. Dall employs not only the apical shell characters 

 which he regarded as important in his earlier papers, but also many 

 features of the soft anatomy. Stress is laid on " the presence or ab- 

 sence of a caecum to the ossophagus ; the characters of the radula; of 

 the verge, or external male organ ; and the presence or absence of an 

 operculum." A new three-fold division of the Vohitidee, here out- 

 lined, is regarded as provisional. It may be briefly summed up as 

 follows : 



1. Subfamily Votutince. A shelly, persistent protoconch, sessile 

 eyes, operculum usually absent and the radula teeth usually in one 

 tricuspid series. 



2. Subfamily Caricellinse. A membranous protoconch, operculum 

 absent, radula variable or absent. Otherwise as in Volutince. 



3. Subfamily Volutomitrinse. Protoconch supposedly shelly ; adult 

 unicolored, with a conspicuous periostracum ; small stalked eyes, 

 " radula of a single long series, the separate teeth unicuspidate, with 

 deeply arcuate bases." No operculum. 



The genera and species are distributed among the subfamilies as 

 follows : 



Volutince : Valuta (Linne) Lamarck, with the following species : 

 musica L., virescens, Sol., ebrosa L. 



Lyria Gray with the species beauii Fischer and Bernard!. 



