XXVIU 



" In proposing this new genus, I am aware that European 

 Zoologists have made manj- genera and subgenera in this Fam- 

 11}', but none have made groups of our numerous species by 

 which the}' can be properly divided. They have mixed them 

 up, with all the time and care they have bestowed upon them, 

 in a manner so as to make great confusion. 



" Mr. Swainson, in his ' Treatise on Malacology,' proposed 

 a subgenus of Melania under the name of Ceriphasia, and 

 gives a figure, page 204 (C. sulcata), stating that it came from 

 Ohio. It is evident, on looking at this figure, that it does not 

 represent any Ohio species, neither in the aperture nor in the 

 revolviug ribs. Dr. Gray and Messrs. Adams adopt the genus, 

 and the latter give a figure (pi. 31, fig. G) of canallcnlata, Sa}-, 

 as the type, which I do not think answers to the description or 

 figure of Mr. Swainson. Dr. Gra}', in his excellent 'List of 

 the Genera of Recent Mollusca,' in the Proc. Zool. Soc, ex- 

 pressed a doubt whether his Telescopella may not be the same 

 with Ceriphasia." 



In April, 1861, Mr. Lea proposed another genus, 

 as follows : — 



'■'■ Strep)lwhasis^ Lea. — Shell cylindrical; aperture subquad- 

 rate ; columella thickened and retro-canaliculate below. 



" Operculum commencing spiral, corneous. 



" The mollusk, for which I propose this genus, was sent to 

 me by "Wm. Spillman, M. D., of Columbus, Miss., and I have 

 before me over a dozen specimens from a third to nearly an 

 inch in length. The very great number of species of the 

 genus Melania makes it desirable to eliminate any group, with 

 characters sufficiently distinct to permanently recognize it. 

 The very remarkable retrorse callus at the base of the column, 

 causing a lateral sinus, is characteristic of this genus." 



Next, we have the genus Goniohasis, mtended to 

 mclude most of the vast residue of species not jDrevi- 

 ously eliminated. This genus, proposed in Proc. 

 Aciid. Nat. Sciences, May, 1862, is described as 

 follows : --- 



" Goniohasis, Lea. — Shell conical or fusiform. Aperture 

 subrhomboidal, subangulate below. Columella thickened some- 

 what above. Operculum commencing spiral, corneous. 



"In my paper on the genus Trypunostoma, proposed by me 

 (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1863, p. 1G9), I mentioned the impor- 

 tance of eliminating as many species as possible from the 

 genus Melania, which is so enormously extended as almost to 

 prevent the possibility of finding suitable names for the species. 

 In the Proceedings of the Academy, Dec, 1801, I stated that 



