148 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1899. 



will be furtlier discussed in the article ou the genus now in course 



of preparation. 



Turbonilla interrupta (Totten) H. aud A. Adams. 



Turritella interrupta Totten. Amer. Jour. Sci., xxviii, p. 352, fig. 7, 

 1835. 



This very much misinterpreted species was described by Totten, 

 as follows : 



" Shell small, subulate, brownish; volutions about ten, almost 

 flat, with about twenty-two transverse, obtuse ribs, separated by 

 grooves of equal diameter, and with about fourteen subequal, 

 impressed, revolving lines, which are arranged in pairs, and 

 entirely interrupted by the ribs; below the middle of the body- 

 whorl, the ribs become obsolete, and the revolving lines continu- 

 ous; aperture ovate, angular above, regularly rounded below, 

 about one-fifth the length of the shell; right lip, sharp, indis- 

 tinctly sinuous; length, .22 of an inch; breadth, .07." 



Dredged in Newport, K. I , harbor. 



The number of specimens is not given, but, as the description is 

 so clearly defined, it is safe to assume that there was only the 

 figured one. My efibrts to find whether or not it is still in exist- 

 tence have been unsuccessful. 



The specimens found in Dartmouth harbor, Mass., and identified 

 as this species by Prof. C. B. Adams, are still in the cabinet at 

 Amherst College, where I have recently examined them and found 

 that none agree with the original descriptions or figure. Adams* 

 mentions that he identified them by the description, but calls 

 attention to the great variation among ttiem, as follows: 



' ' The number of transverse ribs is seldom less than twenty-five, 

 and often exceeds thirty. Above the body-whorl, the number of 

 revolving lines does not exceed eight. The arrangement of them 

 in pairs does not distinctly appear in these specimens." 



These facts have been overlooked by more recent authors and 

 these specimens have always been recorded, as the second authentic 

 specimens to have been found. They really represent four (4) 

 distinct species. One specimen (a) has the form of T. areolata 

 Verrill, but the five (5) spiral lines are not so evenly spaced as 

 in that species. Thi-ee specimens (6) have the general form of Tot- 

 ten's figure, but there are only five (5) nearly equally spaced, 



2 Boston Journal Nat. Hist., ii, p. 275, 1838. 



