Thuraimimia papillata Brady : a Study in Variation. 547 



rare and abnormal form in which all but one or two of the papillae 

 are suppressed, and these surviving papillae are abnormally deve- 

 loped, resulting in a shell, flask-shaped, or resembling a broken 

 chamber oio. Reopliax (PI. XXVII, figs. 18-20). It occurs sparingly 

 in several " Goldseeker " gatherings, but is hardly worth a varietal 

 name. If Gough's specimens from Lough Larne (Eef. 37) are true 

 Thurammin^ they should be referred to this form. 



Thurammina papillata var. haeusleri var. nov. 



Types, T. papillata Haeusler (Eef. 10, pi. viii, figs. 5-8, 11, 13-24, 

 and Eef. 21, pi. vi, figs. 14, 18). 



Plate XXA^III, figs. 1-12 ; Plate XXIX, fig. 16 ; Plate XXX, fig. 8. 



Nearly all the other figures on the plate of Haeusler's 1883 

 paper (Eef. 10), and the %s. 14, 18, pi. vi., of his 1890 paper 

 (Eef. 21), represent an amorphous and protean type, which we 

 propose to separate under the varietal name haeusleri. No de- 

 scription is possible, because no two specimens ever resemble each 

 other, but in general terms it may be stated that the shell is of 

 irregular form, the papillae are more strongly developed than in 

 the sphere type, and that the shell texture is subject to the same 

 range of variations, covering every gradation between transparent 

 chitin through fine cement and sand to a coarse arenaceous invest- 

 ment. Chitinous specimens often attain a large size and present a 

 formidable investment of stout spinous papillae, frequently imper- 

 forate. Specimens of var. haeusleri are generally more or less 

 compressed, but it is not difficult to obtain a series of specimens 

 linking haeusleri through var. castanea with the sphere type. We 

 figure a series of specimens representing some of the innumerable 

 variations of this wild-growing form, which is fairly common at 

 several stations. 



This appears to be a convenient place in which to deal with 

 certain figures of Brady (Eef. 12). Plate xxxvi, fig. 12, described 

 as " specimen with an internal chamber," represents an irregular 

 sphere type laid open and showing an internal shell of type inter- 

 mediate between haeusleri smd the typical sphere. It has attracted 

 a good deal of attention from subsequent writers (Eefs. 19, 34, 41), 

 who have found in it support for various theories. The specimen 

 must, however, be regarded as an abnormality. The internal young 

 shell is within the experience covered by the large series of 

 " Goldseeker " specimens always released by the dissolution of the 

 parent shell before the young attain such size or an arenaceous 

 investment. 



Brady's figures 13 and 14, pi. xxxvi (Eef. 12), are of greater 

 interest to us, because they are clearly our variety haeusleri. They 

 are described as " primordial chambers from other specimens. " It 

 is not clear from this whether they were actually removed from 



