368 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. VI. 



Waldheimia septigera and Terehratella sejotata, identical. — 



To THE EDITOR OF THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. — Sir, — Having 



in the course of a too short visit to North America been honored 

 by remarkable kindness and attention on the part of my brother 

 naturalists in this great hemisphere, I am rather disappointed 

 at seeing in your excellent periodical a notice of the Report 

 submitted to the Royal .Society of London by my colleagues and 

 myself, on the deep-sea exploration of parts of the North Atlantic, 

 in H- M. S. "Porcupine," during the summer of 1869. The 

 writer of that notice, Mr. W. H. Dall, criticises in what I can- 

 not help considering over severe terms my views " in regard of 

 the specific and generic limits of animals ; " and he gives as an 

 instance, " Waldheimia septigera " and " Terehratella septata," 

 which he states belong to different genera, although I have in- 

 cluded both under the same specific name. I do not agree with 

 Mr. Dall in his statement. Having had opportunities of exam- 

 ining the types or original specimens of Terehratula septigera 

 (Lov^n) at Stockholm, and of Terehratida sep>tata (Philippi) at 

 Berlin, and having carefully compared these specimens with the 

 published descriptions and figures, I am convinced that both be- 

 long not only to the same genus but to the same species. What 

 seems to have been in the mind of Mr. Dall when he penned his 

 hasty critique was that Professor Seguenza of Messina had re- 

 ferred a species of Terehratella from the Sicilian tertiaries to 

 Philippi's species and a species of Terehratula found in the same 

 formation to Lov^n's species. The former may be the Terehra- 

 tella Marian of Mr. Arthur Adams from the Japanese seas ; the 

 latter I have ascertained to be rather widely distributed in the 

 North Atlantic. 



I have the honour to be, Sii*j 

 Your very obedient servant, 



J. GwTN Jeffreys* 

 Montreal, 6th October, 1871. 



Published April, 1872. 



