308 ESCHARID^. 



Range of Variation. The South- A.merican specimens oa 

 which Mr. Busk^s description of Lepralia adpressa was 

 founded are characterized by a strongly grooved surface, 

 which I have never met with in British or Mediterranean 

 examples. The latter agree more completely with his L. 

 lata ; but there really seems to be no important difference 

 between these two forms. There is no marked sculpture 

 of any kind on the species as it occurs in our seas. In 

 young cells the surface is thickly punctured, and bright 

 and glossy ; but the punctures are soon surrounded by 

 reticulated ridges, and then almost obliterated, so that 

 the surface is merely pitted ; at a later stage they disap- 

 pear altogether, and it becomes dense and almost smooth. 

 The knobs on each side of the orifice are sometimes 

 present on almost every cell, while in other cases they are 

 rarely met with. Occasionally they attain a large size, 

 and constitute a very striking feature ; the ovicell is also 

 sometimes crowned by a prominent umbo. 



Habitat. On shells, chiefly small univalves, from mode- 

 rate depths to deep water. 



Localities. Torbay (T. H.) : Guernsey (A. M. N.) : 

 Hastings (Miss Jelly). 



Geographical Distribution. Chiloe, 96 fathoms (Dar- 

 win) : Mazatlan, abundant, on ColumbeJla and Pisania 

 (P. P. Carpenter) : Bay of Gibraltar (Landsborough) : 

 Algiers (J. Y. J.) : Naples (A. W. Waters) . 



Range in Time, Italian Pliocene (Manzoni). 



