456 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [May, 



STAURONEIS TERRYI D. B. Ward. 

 BY T. CHALKLEY PALMER. 



The anomalous diatom here to be dealt with was first made known 

 by Mr. William A. Terry, of Bristol, Conn., the veteran collector and 

 student of the Diatomacese whose enterprise has brought to light so 

 many new forms. He collected it on Fall Mountain, Conn., in 1890, 

 and during the same year Dr. D. B. Ward made a number of arranged 

 mounts of the valves. These were distributed, together with photo- 

 graphs showing two of the curious upper valves side by side, under the 

 name Stauroneis terryana Ward. This name was almost immediately 

 and very properly amended by Dr. Ward, at the suggestion of Prof. 

 Hamilton L. Smith, to Stauroneis terryi. One of Dr. Ward's slides, 

 and a vial of the Fall Mountain material containing the diatom, were 

 sent by Mr. Terry, in 1892, to J. A. Tempere, who in turn forwarded a 

 specimen to Prof. P. T. Cleve. The first literary result was the noting 

 of a new variety in Cleve's monograph. 1 



Stauroneis acuta W. Smith. Var. tsrryana, Tempore. 



The description is exceedingly short, being confined to a measure- 

 ment of the length and breadth, and a counting of the stria?, the 

 statement ending, curiously enough, "Brackish water: Connecticut!" 



The second result was a figure in Schmidt's Atlas 2 with the legend 

 " 1. Connecticut? (Original expl. Tempere), Stauroneis acuta W. Smith, 

 var. Terryana, Tempere." 



Now the sparse characterization in Cleve's monograph would seem 

 to point anywhere except toward a recognition of the essential char- 

 acters of Mr. Terry's diatom, and the impression of an existing miscon- 

 ception is amply confirmed by the figure in Schmidt's Atlas. Whatever 

 may finally be determined concerning the relationship between this 

 diatom and Stauroneis acuta, a reduction to varietal rank must base 

 itself on something more to the purpose than a one-line description 

 and a single figure of some form other than that which was named 

 Stauroneis terryi by Dr. Ward. 



The only other publication relating to this diatom which is known 



1 Synopsis of the Naviculoid Diatoms, P. T. Cleve, 1894. 



3 A. Schmidt, Atlas der Diatomaceen-Kunde , Tafel 242, fig. 1, September, 19Q3. 



