126 EOCENE MOLLUSCA. 
with filaments, sometimes with numerous papillz, and in some instances they are 
smooth. The branchial organ consists of a single plume, and the dental apparatus is 
composed of a series of rows of teeth, each row formed of one broad uncinated central 
tooth, and three hooked lateral teeth on each side. 
In the young state, the Cowry presents a very different appearance to that which 
it ultimately assumes. In the early stage of growth the outer lip is thin, sharp, and 
simple, neither involute nor ’crenulated; the aperture is wide and effuse in front, and 
the spire is well-marked. In this state the shell is quite smooth, and without the 
enamel and coloration which subsequently form its chief beauty. 
Various generic divisions of the Cyprzea have been proposed by different authors ; 
but they appear to depend mainly on conchological distinctions, the animals, in so far 
as they are at present known, not presenting essential differences from the true 
Cyprzea; and these genera, therefore, are more usually regarded as sections merely 
of the present genus. A slight variation in the dental apparatus, and the papillose 
surface of the lobes appear to distinguish the genus Z?ivia,* the only section of the 
present genus which is represented in our Eocene Fauna. 
As a genus, the living Cowries have a wide range, extending from the shores of 
Greenland to the-equator. The largest and most beautiful species are, however, 
inhabitants of the tropical seas, where they are found in shallows under coral-reefs or 
rocks. Upwards of 150 species have been figured and described ; of these one species 
only (Cyp. Europea), is found on our coasts. 
In the fossil state, a few species, referred to this genus, from the upper cretaceous 
formations in Pondicherry, at Martignes (Bas du Rhone), and at Faxoeé, in Denmark, 
have been described by Professor E. Forbes, Matheron, and Sir C. Lyell; but in the 
eocene and subsequent formations, the genus has a much larger development. From 
the lower and middle beds of the Paris Basin, twelve species have been described by 
Lamarck, Deshayes, and Melleville; from the miocene and more recent beds of 
Touraime, Dax, and Bourdeaux, and the pleiocene formations of Piedmont and Turin 
nearly seventy species have been described by Dujardin, Grateloup, Brocchi, Basterot, 
Sismonda, and others ; and from the Crag of England, and the synchronous deposits 
in Belgium, several other species have been described by MM. Sowerby, Searles Wood, 
Nyst, and Philippi. Of the English eocene Cyprzez, five species only have hitherto 
been described ; to these I now add four new species, three of which belong to the 
section Zrivia. 
No. 71. CypR@A INFLATA. Lamarck. Tab. XVI, fig. 4a, 0. 
Cyprm@a INFLATA, Burtin. 1784. Oryct. de Bruxelles, t. 17. fig. T. 
— _ Lamk. 1802. Ann. du Mus., vol. ii, p. 389, No. 2, vol. vi, t. 44, fig. 1. 
* Messrs. Adams’ ‘Genera of Recent Moll.,’ vol. i, p. 264. 
