M I T R A. 



Species 4C. (Mus. Norris.) 

 Mitra lyrata. Mitr. testa gracili-fusiformi, spirdper- 

 acutd, basi attenuatd, ascendente ; anfractibus longi- 

 tudinaliter costatis, costis numerosis, angustissirnis, 

 elevatis, interstitiis subobscur'c transversa striatis ,■ 

 cinereo-cterulesccnte, fusciis spadieeis angustis cinctd, 

 costis cteriilesccnte-albis ; columella quadriplicatd. 

 The lyre-like Mithe. Shell slenderly fusiform, spire 

 very sharp, base attenuated, turned upwards; whorls 

 longitudinally ribbed, ribs numerous, very narrow, 

 elevated, interstices rather obscurely transversely 

 striated ; ashy blue, encircled with narrow dark 

 bands, ribs blueish white ; columella four-plaited. 

 Lamarck, Anim. sans vert., vol. vii. p. 308. 

 Valuta subdivisa (pars), Chemnitz. 

 Mitra subdivisa, Lamarck, Ann. du mus. 

 Hab. Island of Negros, Philippines (found in sandy mud 

 at the depth of three fathoms) ; Cuming. 

 The extreme delicacy and decision of the longitudinal 

 ribs give them very much the appearance, as Lamarck 

 observes, of the cords of a lyre ; the base of the shell is 

 more than usually attenuated, and it is peculiarly re- 

 curved or turned upwards. 



There is very little variation in the Mitra lyrata ; the 

 brown and white varieties mentioned by M. Kiener are 

 varieties of the Mitra melongena, for the illustration of 

 which species he has erroneously figured a Mitra vul- 

 pecula. 



Species 47. (Fig. a and b, Mus. Cuming; Fig. c, Mus. 

 Norris.) 



Mitra melongena. Mitr. tesid elongato-fusiformi, 

 gracili, basi subrecurvd, spird peracutd ; anfractibus 

 longitudinaliter costatis, costis numerosis, obtusis, in- 

 terstitiis transverse striatis, costis anfractds ultimi 

 seepe indistinctis ; interdum albidd, rufo- vel cinereo- 

 fuscesceiite fasciatd, interdum rufo- vet cinereo- 

 fuscescenle albifasciatd ; columella, quadriplicatd. 



The MAD-APrLE Mitre. Shell elongately fusiform, 

 slender, base a little recurved, spire very sharp ; 

 whorls longitudinally ribbed, ribs numerous, obtuse, 

 interstices transversely striated, ribs of the last 

 whorl often indistinct ; sometimes whitish, banded 

 with reddish or ashy brown, sometimes reddish or 

 ashy brown banded with white ; columella four- 

 plaited. 



Lamarck (not of Kiener), Anim. sans vert., vol. vii. 



p. 309. 

 Hab. Molucca and Philippine Islands (found on mud- 

 banks at low water) ; Cuming. 

 The shells which M. Kiener notices as being white 

 and reddish-brown varieties of the Mitra lyrata, I con- 

 sider to be the true Mitra melongena of Lamarck. 



It hardly becomes me to differ upon no other than the 

 ordinary grounds of discrimination from a gentleman 

 who had for some years the entire charge of Lamarck's 

 collection, and must have been in possession of all the 

 shells described by that great author from his own cabi- 

 net ; but as such is my opinion, I venture to act upon it. 

 leaving others to judge whether the shells here repre- 

 sented do not answer to Lamarck's account of his Mitra 

 melongena, rather than that figured by M. Kiener, which 

 I take to be nothing more than a common variety of the 

 Mitra vulpecula. 



Species 48. (Mus. Norris.) 

 Mitra regina. Mitr. testa elongato-fusiformi, spirit 

 turritd, acute productd; anfractibus superne angulatis, 

 longitudinaliter costal is, transversim eleeato-striatis ; 

 aurantio-rubro et carulescente-albo alternatim zonula, 

 zonarum marginibus niyro-tauiiutis ; columella qua- 

 driplicatd. 

 The queen Mitre. Shell elongately fusiform, spire 

 turreted, sharply produced ; whorls angulated at 

 the upper part, longitudinally ribbed, transversely 

 elevately striated ; alternately zoned with orange- 

 red and blueish white, edged with black ; colu- 

 mella four-plaited. 

 Sowerby, Genera of Shells. 



Mitra plicaria valde elongata, Chemnitz, Conch. 

 Cab., vol. x. pi. 151. f. 1444 and 144.3. 

 Hob. Moluccas. 



Lamarck may have considered the Mitra regina to be 

 nothing more than a variety of the Mitra tieniata, for he 

 illustrates the latter species by referring to Chemnitz's 

 excellent representation of the former, under the name 

 mentioned above ; it may however be easily distinguished 

 by the angular structure of the ribs near the sutures. 



August 1844. 



