MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 231 



slightly thickened inside, smooth, simple except for vague indications of the 

 external sculpture in the less mature state; body with a smooth evenly spread 

 callus extending considerably in advance of the aperture and over the inner 

 half of the pillar; the latter perfectly smooth, evenly twisted (the siphonal 

 fasciole distinct, not prominent), with the anterior end obliquely truncate or 

 falling away roundly into the short canal. The nucleus is filled in the speci- 

 mens examined with a solid mass of shelly matter, the epidermis, if any, is 

 extremely thin, and there seems to be a tendency to erosion of the thin outer 

 more calcareous layer, as in Buccinum. Lon. of shell, 41.25; of aperture, 25.00; 

 max. lat. of shell, 23.00; of aperture, 10.00 mm. 



Habitat. Off Grenada, Station 265, in 576 fins., bottom temperature 39°. 7 F. 

 Bottom of graj' ooze. 



The specimens of this singular shell were fresh, but without the soft parts. 

 The ante-sutural band at first sight suggests a pleurotomoid notch, but a careful 

 inspection shows that there are no grounds for this suspicion, as the lines of 

 growth cross the band without the slightest sinuosity. 



The habit of the shell is very different from that of Oocorys, which in outline 

 and spiral sculpture somewhat resembles Valium, and the present species can 

 best be compared to a compact, solid, simple Sconsia (Gray), with a plain 

 unsculptured columella, unrefiexed lip, and elevated spire without varices. 



Family CASSIDID^E. 



Genus CASSIS Lamarck. 



Without going into the synonymy of those shells ordinarily referred to this 

 genus, C. cameo Stimpson and tuberosa Linne reach the southern coast of the 

 United States, and perhaps as far north as Beaufort, N. C. ; C. fiammea L. 

 reaches the Florida Keys; G. testiculus L., and C. inflata Shaw (with many 

 synonyms) and its very distinct-looking smooth variety, are found on the 

 Florida coast; the variety and both the typical forms go northward to within 

 a few miles of Hatteras, in 15-125 fms. The young of G. inflata, which is a 

 remarkably pretty little shell, was dredged by the Blake in 54 fms., near Som- 

 brero, W. I. Lastly, Galeodea Coronadoi Crosse, of which a single specimen 

 has hitherto been known, from Matanzas, Cuba, has been dredged by the U. S. 

 Fish Commission at Station 2603, in 124 fms., sand and gravel, forty miles 

 from Cape Fear, N. C. Oniscia, or, more properly, Lambidium oniscus L., 

 has not yet turned up from north of the West Indies. L. strombiformis Reeve 

 I have never seen, but the beautiful Oniscidia Dcnnisoni of Reeve was dredged 

 in 130 fins., coral, on the Arrowsmith Bank, Yucatan, by the U. S. Fish 

 Commission. 



I am quite convinced that some startling modifications of nomenclature and 

 ideas respecting what constitutes a species of Cassis will follow a study of a 

 sufficient number of specimens of the three larger species above mentioned. 



