300 DESCRIPTION OF NEW 



The apex being eroded in all the specimens, I am not sure of the number of the whorls; 

 there may be about six. The aperture is about one-half the length of the shell. 

 I dedicate this species to Mr. Coleman Sellers, of Cincinnati. 



Melania oppugnata. PL XXX. Fig. 9. 



Testa Isevi, truncatd, cylindraced, percrassd, htteo-corned ; spird truncatd; suturis magnis et valde irregu- 

 lariter impressls; anfractibus valde compressis, superne geniculatis ; aperturd prxlongd, valde constrictd, 

 superne callosd, intus alba; columella tortd, superne valde incrassatd. 



Shell smooth, truncate, cylindrical, very thick, yellowish horn-colour ; spire cut off; sutures large and very 

 irregularly impressed ; whorls very much compressed, geniculate above; aperture very long, very much nar- 

 rowed, above callous, within white; columella twisted, and very much thickened above. 



Hab. Alabama river, Mr. C. M. Wheatley. 



My cabinet and cabinet of Mr. Wheatley. 

 Diam. .41, Length ? 



Remarks. — This is a very remarkable species. The two specimens before me are both 

 cut off, leaving little more than the body whorl. When taken they were evidently living 

 and healthy specimens, but the eroded and fractured spires give them the appearance of 

 old and diseased shells, which is by no means the case. The upper part of the whorl, 

 along the suture, is irregularly fractured round the whole circle. This arises from the 

 fact that the animal having filled up the channel with calcareous deposit, suddenly re- 

 commences at a new line of growth, some distance below, leaving open and bare of epi- 

 dermal matter this upper portion of the channel, which consequently having a sharp edge, 

 becomes more or less fractured. The whorls are so much flattened that the two sides are 

 nearly parallel. One of the specimens has a small spot of brown in the aperture above 

 and below — the other has none. This species is allied to auriculaformis, (Nobis,) on one 

 side, and olivula, Con., on the other, but it may be easily distinguished from both of them. 

 The former is a smaller shell and more fusiform; the latter is more conical, less thickened 

 on the columella, and not irregularly fractured in the suture. The number of whorls or 

 proportional size of the aperture cannot be ascertained on the specimens before me. 

 They have the appearance of having been very much exposed to^an attacking enemy, 

 hence the name. 



Melania Saffordii. PI. XXX. Fig. 10. 



Testa Isevi, obtuso-conoided, crassd, subfusiformis, lenebroso-viridi; spird subbrevi; suturis Hnearibus ; 

 anfractibus convexiusculus, ultimo magno; aperturd subgrandi, ovato-productd, intus purpurea; columella 

 purpurea tortdque. 



Shell smooth, obtusely conical, thick, subfusiform, dark-green ; spire rather short; sutures linear; whorls a 

 little convex, the last large; aperture rather large, ovately elongated, within purple; columella purple and 

 twisted. 



Hab. Lebanon, Wilson county, Tennessee, Mr. James M. Saflbrd. 

 My cabinet and cabinet of Mr. Saflbrd. 

 Diam. .37, Length .85, of an inch. 



