598 



SCIENTIFIC RECORD FOR 1882. 



several animals would be regarded by a concbologist as Marginella 

 glabella was to some Extent figurative aud intended to convey an idea 

 of a similarity wbicb stronglj'^ contrasted witb tbe dissimilarity of the 

 animals. During the past year a full monograiih of the several forms 

 has been published by Dr. Carriere. It now apj)ears that the shells 

 are actually uudistinguishable specifically from each other, and unless 

 special attention was called to them, a concbologist would unhesitat- 

 ingly consider them to be of the same species. Let it be remembered 

 that the shell of ^'•Marginella glahelW is very characteristic in form as 

 well as color, and " the difficulty of believing that such a species of 

 shell may be developed by animals of three different families of mol- 

 lusks may be understood. It will be much more credible that Dr. 

 Carriere has been imposed upon, and that the animals of other shells 

 have been skillfully transferred into emptied shells of Marginella gla- 

 bella than to believe that such an anomaly as has been alleged should 

 occur in nature. Dr. Carriere's good faith cannot be impugned, but 

 there is too much reason to fear that he has been made the victim of a 

 hoax or perhaps a deliberate fraud. Dr. Carriere has well summarized 

 the alleged facts in a tabular foriu, which is herewith literally translated. 

 The data j)urport to be the result of examination of eleven specimens, 

 six of which had a marginelloid animal and the others operculigerous 

 ones. 



( Table — continued. ) 



It thus appears that (1) the same species of shell (using the word 

 "species" in a literal sense) is repeated in the several types, and that (2) 

 the several animals, exclusive of the shells, are strictly related to the 

 numerous representatives of three widely differentiated families, and 

 would be unhesitatingly referred to such families were it not for the 

 shells. We are then called upon to decide which of two alternatives is 



