THE NAUTILUS. 



VOL. XIII. NOVEMBER, 1899. No. 7. 



DONAX STULTORUM, MAWE CONRAD'S SPECIES, CYTHEREA 

 CRASSATELLOIDES. 



BY ROUT. E. C. STEARNS. 



On delving into the literature and resurrecting the little known 

 \v<>rk of some good old forgotten author, in pursuance of the law of 

 priority, we have to rehabilitate an overlooked name at the expense 

 of a better and more appropriate one, that has been in use for nearly 

 two-thirds of a century. Of course this results in some confusion, 

 and the revision of labels, catalogues, etc., which is no trifling affair. 

 An instance of this kind is seen in the case of the well-known 

 C'i/fltci-i'0 (Tireld) crassatettoides of Conrad (1837), of California!! 

 waters, which now, though the specific name is highly appropriate, is 

 found to conflict with that of stnltornm of Mawe, who figured it in 

 1823, from a young example, assigning it to the genus Doitax. The 

 late Dr. Philip Carpenter, who was inclined to be conservative in 

 cases of this kind, while mentioning Mawe's species in the British 

 Association Ivi-port, 1SD3, p. 524, and in the tabulated list of the 

 shells of the Vancouver and California!) province, same volume (p. 

 f>40), adheres to Conrad's name and says, " jun. == stii/torum Gray." 

 With over a hundred juniors before me, measuring from three- 

 fourths to an inch and a half (19 to 37 nun.) in length, it seems 

 strange that this form, even in its adolescent stages, should have 

 been regarded as a Donax. On page 526, of his report as above, 

 Carpenter says "[the young of this Pachydesma is 'Trigona stult- 



