56 DESCRIPTION OF NEW 
The apex being eroded in all the specimens, I am not sure of the number of the whorls; 
there may be about six. The aperture is about one-half the length of the shell. 
I dedicate this species to Mr. Coleman Sellers, of Cincinnati. 
Metania oppuenata. PI]. XXX. Fig. 9. 
Testa levi, truncata, cylindraced, percrassd, luteo-corned ; spird truncata; suturis magnis et valde irregu- 
lariter impressis; anfractibus valdé compressis, superné geniculatis; apertura praiapes, valdé constricla, 
superné callosa, intus alba; columella torta, superné valde incrassata. . 
Shell smooth, truncate, cylindrical, very thick, yellowish horn-colour; spire cut off; sutures large and very 
irregularly impressed ; whorls very much compressed, geniculate above; aperture very long, very much nar- 
rowed, above callous, within white; columella twisted, and very much thickened above. 
Hab. Alabama river, Mr.C. M. Wheatley. 
My cabinet and cabinet of Mr. Wheatley. 
Diam. .41, Length 
Remarks.—This is a very remarkable species. The two specimens before me are both 
cut off, leaving little more than the body whorl. When taken they were evidently living 
and healthy specimens, but the eroded and fractured spires give them the appearance of 
old and diseased shells, which is by no means the case. The upper part of the whorl, 
along the suture, is irregularly fractured round the whole circle. This arises from the 
fact that the animal having filled up the channel with calcareous deposit, suddenly re- 
commences at a new line of growth, some distance below, leaving open and bare of epi- 
dermal matter this upper portion of the channel, which consequently having a sharp edge, 
becomes more or less fractured. 'The whorls are so much flattened that the two sides are 
nearly parallel. One of the specimens has a small spot of brown in the aperture above 
and below—the other has none. This species is allied to auriculaformis, (Nobis,) on one 
side, and olivula, Con., on the other, but it may be easily distinguished from both of them. 
The former is a smaller shell and more fusiform; the latter is more conical, less thickened 
on the columella, and not irregularly fractured in the suture. The number of whorls or 
proportional size of the aperture cannot be ascertained on the specimens before me. 
They have the appearance of having been very much exposed to an attacking enemy, 
hence the name. 
MetaniA Sarrorpu. P]. XXX. Fig. 10. 
Testa levi, obtuso-conoided, crassa, subfusiformis, tenebroso-viridi; spird subbrevis suturis linearibus ; 
anfractibus convexiusculus, ultimo magno; aperturd subgrandi, ovato-productd, intus purpurea; columella 
purpurea tortdque. 
Shell smooth, obtusely conical, thick, subfusiform, dark-green; spire rather short; sutures linear; whorls a 
little convex, the last large; aperture rather large, ovately elongated, within purple; columella purple and 
twisted. 
Hab. Lebanon, Wilson county, Tennessee, Mr. James M. Safford. 
My cabinet and cabinet of Mr. Safford. 
Diam. 387 Length .85, of an inch. 
