PLATE CLXII. 



It remains to express some little doubt, whether every circumstance 

 ■will allow us to consider this as an hitherto undescribed species ; as 

 a British shell we can have no hesitation in saying it has not been 

 mentioned by any author. We were rather inclined at first to think 

 our shell could be no other than a variety of the Dentalium striatulum 

 of Gmelin, which is described as a native of the Mediterranean and 

 Sicilian seas. The synonyms given by Gmelin to that species, we 

 found however to be less expressive of our shell than his de- 

 scription; Lister's shell, to which he refers, /. 547./. i. b. is 

 much larger than our shell, as is likewise that of Martini, quoted 

 with it ; both are described to be of a fine green colour, with the 

 tip only white, but it has uniformly eight distinct ribs or angles, as 

 in our shell, which is a much more important characteristic of a species, 

 than the mere difference of colour. — There is another shell, figured 

 by Martini, pi. i. f. 4. B. that seems to approach much nearer to 

 our shell, and the colour is white, but as in D. elephantium, this has 

 ten ribs instead of eight ; it is the Dentalium aprinum of Gmelin. — 

 As our shell, upon the whole, does not strictly accord with those 

 species noticed, nor any others which we are acquainted with, a new 

 name and character will tend at least to obviate confusion. Of Den- 

 talium striatulum it may prove to be a variety, but that is doubtful ; and 

 there is scarcely any reason to dispute its being undescrjbcd, unless 

 it be of that species. 



