106 EECORDS OF THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM. 



vague resemblance to the palmar aspect of a clenched left hand 

 suggested the name of, — 



PuGNUS, ge7i. nov. 

 By its thrice folded columella, anterior canal, thickened outer 

 lip, and sculpture; of spiral grooves crossed by transverse strife, 

 this very distinct genus takes a place in the family Ringiculid;i3. 

 From the only other surviving genus Eingicula, Pugnus is 

 separated by its involute shell and buried spire. In the short- 

 ness of the spire the Cretaceous fossil Avellana occupies a position 

 intermediate between these two. Its contour is however more 

 globose, and those subordinate groups which agree with Pugnus 

 in possessing a smooth lip, appear to differ by having one columella 

 plication only. The type and only species is, — 



Pugnus parvus, sp. nov. 



Shell minute, white, solid, oblong, involute, spire buried, im- 

 perforate at either extremity, the posterior of the inner portion of 

 the last whorl obliquely sloped. Sculptured by about thirty spiral 

 grooves, whose interstices are three times their breadth, and are 

 cut by longitudinal striae into squarish facets. Aperture as long 

 as the shell, vertical, contracted in the middle, expanded anteriorly 

 and posteriorly, inner lip overlaid with callus ; outer lip smooth, 

 greatly thickened externally and internally, springing from a false 

 umbilicus in the vertex, arched highev than it, arcuate peripher- 

 ally, curving below the whorl up to the columella and channelled 

 at the junction ; anteriorly the columella bears a strong entering 

 fold, posterior and parallel to which is a weaker one, and posterior 

 to this again a small deeply-seated third fold is just distinguish- 

 able. Length, li; breadth, 1mm. Animal unknown. 



Loc. — Manly, near Sydney, alive, at low tide on rocks, and 

 dead in shell sand from Middle Harbour. (A. XJ. Henn). 



Type. — Australian Museum, C. 2524. 



DESCRIPTION OF a DAPANOPTERA from AUSTRALIA. 



By Frederick A. A. Skuse. 

 (Entomologist to the Australian Museum). 



In the present contribution it appears advisable that it should 

 be prefaced by an ex[)lanation of the reason why scientidc names 

 and descriptions, which the majority of the public does not .seem 

 to quite understand, are published in the manner they are, and why 

 such a course is necessary to the end for which they are written. 



