~l 
BRACHIOPODA. 49 
Orthis (Dinorthis) meedsi.] 
Orvis (Dinortuts) MEEDsI W. and S. 
PLATE XXXII, FIGS. 39—22. 
1892, April1. Orthis meedsi W.and S. American Geologist, vol. ix, p. 289. 
1892, April 9. Orthis minnesotensis SARDESON. Bulletin of the Minnesota Academy of Natural 
Sciences. vol. iii, p. 332, pl. v, figs. 14-17. 
Shell of medium size, suborbicular in outline; biconvex; anterior margin broadly 
deflected dorsally; hinge-line about one-fourth shorter than the greatest width. Sur- 
face marked by strongly elevated, sharply rounded striz, from forty-five to seventy 
on each valve along the anterior margin, crossed by numerous thread-like lines of 
growth; striae arranged in bundles of two or three, those of the ventral valve bifur- 
cating, while on the dorsal valve increase takes place by interpolation. Exfoliated 
specimens show two or three rows of small black spots, which may represent perfor- 
ations in the shell substance. = 
Ventral valve slightly convex, with a broad, shallow sinus; greatest elevation near 
the apex; cardinal area of moderate width, slightly concave, somewhat elevated 
beyond or depressed below that of the dorsal valve, perforated by a small triangular 
delthyrium, which is bounded on each side by a thread-like elevation; beak slightly 
incurved. Internal characters of valves as in 0. (D.) pectinella, but less sharply 
defined. 
Dorsal valve strongly convex centrally, with the lateral-posterior areas some- 
what concave; greatest elevation at a point one-third the length of the valve from 
the posterior margin; cardinal area very narrow, slightly concave, with a broad 
delthyrium, which is occupied in part by a striated cardinal process. 
This common and widely distributed species throughout Minnesota is probably 
a lineal descendant of 0. (D.) pectinella, var. sweeneyi. At first it appears rarely with 
that variety, and attains its distinguishing character in less than fifteen feet of shales 
above the horizon having var. sweeneyi in abundance, and which is here no longer 
met with. The feature distinguishing 0. (D.) meedsi and O. pectinella, var. sweeney? 
is, that bifurcation and interpolation of the striz take place at a much younger 
stage of growth in the former than in the latter, and therefore the species at 
maturity appear quite different. In some of the localities of O. pectinella this 
tendency towards multiplication of the striz is very noticeable, but it invariably 
takes place after the shell has attained more than one-half its growth. In Minne- 
sota specimens it takes place close to the margin, and consequently after maturity 
has been attained. In O. (D.) meedsi the first increase in number of striz occurs 
when the shell has attained but one-third its growth, and after this period bifurca- 
tion and interpolation are irregular. There is, moreover, a tendency towards a 
more convex ventral valve than in 0. (D.) pectinella, but every now and then a speci- 
men occurs with the characteristic flattened valve of that species. 
