Pakeontology of Older Tertiary of Victoria. 101 



As this is one of our commonest shells, young examples are not 

 particularly rare, and by a careful comparision of these with the 

 original description and figure, there cannot possibly be any 

 doubt as to the species indicated. From the very young 

 examples it is an easy matter to make up the grades to the 

 more ordinary adult forms. Although Professor Tate and Mr. 

 Harris and othei's have worked with this species they have 

 either been unable to interpret T. Woods' work or have 

 overlooked it, for Professor Tate' states that " Pleurotoma 

 rhomboidalis, Tenison Woods, has no specific characters, it 

 represents the tip of a Bathytoma." Mr. Harris in the British 

 Museum Catalogue accepts Professor Tate's description of 1894, 

 but some of his remarks have an interesting and important 

 bearing on my present treatment of this species ; he states : 

 " It is interesting to observe also that but few of the main 

 features of the ornament were foreshadowed in the brephic 

 stage, and the extremely diversified character of that ornament 

 as the animal became adult is merely an individual characteristic 

 of no value for systematic purposes. If the shells of a number 

 of very young specimens be compared, no one would have any 

 difficulty in relegating them to a single species ; but as tliey 

 get larger the ornament tends to become so variable that many 

 malacologists would feel inclined to admit the extreme types of 

 variation as of specific rank." 



In view of the evidence before us it seems only right to 

 recognise and retain T. Woods' species. 



Solutofusus, gen. iiov. PI. VII., Fig. 1, la, 2. 



Shell narrowly elongate, somewhat fragile on account of its 

 thinness. Embryo smooth, consisting of about two and a half 

 contiguous, but rather deeply sutui'ed, whorls, making the apical 

 whorl appear somewhat angulate medially, whoils of about 

 uniform breadth, with a prominently exsert and eccentric tip, the 

 latter standing erect about half as high as the breadth of the 

 embryo, and near the junction with the spire the embryo becomes 

 faintly costulate. .^^'^x O j 



1 Jour. Roy. Sqc. N.S.W., 1898, vol. xxxi., p. 398. 





