460 FOSSIL SHELLS OF THE CRAG. 



There are two British wasps which suspend their nests in 

 exposed situations ; — the one above, and the Vespa Holsatica, 

 Fab. The nest of the latter is, however, much larger, usually 

 about the size of a man's head, or somewhat smaller. These 

 are of a firm texture, and are attached to shrubs ; in the north 

 they frequently occur in gardens, fixed to gooseberry-bushes. 

 As to the number of wasps which are natives of this country, 

 I much doubt if there are as many as cabinets are made to 

 contain, from their being separated according to the markings 

 of the abdomen ; for I have myself taken three of these vari- 

 eties, going in and out of one nest : but I shall shortly pub- 

 lish the facts which I have collected upon this subject, and 

 my opinions as to their specific identity and diversity, will be 

 strengthened by differences of structure as well as of mark- 

 ings, and indeed I strongly suspect that the Vespa Holsatica 

 and Vespa Britannica are identical. 



31, Robert St., Chelsea, 

 July 15th, 1839. 



Art. VIII.— On the Fossil Shells of the Crag. By S. V. Wood, 

 Esq. late Curator to the Geological Society of London. 



In publishing the following additions to the British tertiary 

 fossils, some reason should be assigned for classing under 

 one genus such diversity of forms as is here represented, and 

 which might otherwise have been distributed among four pro- 

 posed genera, viz., Bullcea, Bulla, Bullina, Bullinula. It 

 was my intention so to have arranged them, but upon exami- 

 nation I found the gradations from the depressed and hidden 

 spire to one that is highly elevated, to be so minute and al- 

 most imperceptible, that I knew not where to admit the one 

 character and reject the other. Mr. G. B. Sowerby, in his 

 * Genera of Recent and Fossil Shells,' No. 39, has united 

 Bullcea and Bulla, at the same time remarking the changes 

 from one to the other to be so gradual, that a distinct gener- 

 ic line of separation cannot be drawn between them, and 

 thinks the union of the two genera to be fairly warranted. I 

 fully concur in this opinion, and in my present descriptions 

 have only given the genus a little more extension, so as to 

 include shells whose spires are quite visible, and more ele- 

 vated than those which have generally been restricted within 

 the limits of Lamarck's generic character. 



The discordance among conchologists respecting the boun- 

 dary line between different genera, is a subject of little im- 



