451 
Shell fusiform, thin, spire produced; whorls transversely striated. 
Aperture ovate, longer than wide; columella truncate, and with a 
single oblique fold anteriorly ; outer lip thin, smooth internally, ex- 
panded at the hind part, and with the anterior margin crenulated. 
ALCIRA ELEGANS, H. Adams. 
A. testa elongata, rufo-fusca; anfractibus 6, conveaiusculis, trans- 
versim striatis (striis ad basin ultimi anfractus pluribus et pro- 
Sundioribus), maculis nigrioribus, at prope suturam pallidiori- 
bus ; apertura et spira pari longitudine. 
Shell elongate, reddish-brown ; whorls six, slightly convex, trans- 
versely striated (the strie stronger and more numerous on the basal 
portion of the last whorl), variegated with darker markings, and with 
some lighter spots next the suture ; aperture equalling the spire in 
length. 
Long. 73 lin. 
Hab. Natal. 
This genus appears to belong to the Columbelline, in some of 
which a similar fold exists upon the columella; but the absence of 
any thickening or dentition of the outer lip, and its being expanded, 
distinguish Alcira from all the groups at present included in that 
subfamily. The shell has been recently obtained from Natal by 
Hugh Cuming, Esq., of whose extensive collection it now forms a 
part. 
7. On tHe Reptites or Guatemata. By Ossert SALVIN, 
M.A., F.Z.S. 
(Reptilia, Pl. XXXII.) 
There is perhaps no portion of the two continents of America 
where an accurate record of the localities in which collections have 
been made is of such importance as in that long isthmus of varying 
width which joins the mainlands in the northern and southern hemi. 
spheres. It is neutral territory, on which the faunze and flore of the 
north and south contend for superiority in the forms of animal 
and vegetable life which give character to the respective regions. 
_ That portion of this isthmus to which I now particularly refer is the 
Republic of Guatemala, which, with British Honduras and Yucatan, 
includes within the definite limits of the isthmus of Tehuantepec and 
the comparatively narrow neck of land lying between the bottom of 
the Bay of Honduras and the Pacific Ocean a very considerable por- 
tion of the whole. Though the forms of life inhabiting the district 
thug defined lean decidedly to Neotropical types, yet there are just 
sufficient genera and species of Nearctic forms to render the consi- 
_ deration of the localities of observed species a matter of great moment 
in accurately defining the boundary between the two great zoological 
