270 moCEKDINfiS OF THE MALACOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



ON THE ANATOMY OF NATALINA CAFFJiJ, Fer., WITH 

 SPECIAL EEFERENCE TO THE STRUCTURE OF THE BUCCAL 

 MASS. 



By M. r. Woodward, Demonstrator of Zoology, Eoyal College of 

 Science, London. 



Head April 19th, 1895. 



PLATE XVII. 



Some years ago, Mr. Ji. B. Woodward placed at my disposal two live 

 specimens of JV. Caffra from Port Elizabetli, which he had received 

 through tlie kindness of Mr. Ponsonby. These were kept alive for 

 some months by supplying them with living specimens of Jlelix 

 aspersa and H. pomatia, of which they ate several, and consequently 

 grew considerably in size, one of them adding about half an inch to 

 its shell in three months. 



A description of the habits and external characters was given by 

 Mr. B. B. Woodward at a meeting of the Zoological Society.^ 



The animals were subsequently killed in an extended condition, and 

 I further made dissections and numerous drawings of the latter. I did 

 not, however, publish any account of their anatomy, as I understood 

 that specimens had been forwarded to Mr. Pilsbry for that purpose, 

 and thought it unnecessary to diiplicate his description. Unfortu- 

 nately, during the voyage to America the animals died, and when 

 received were so much decomposed that Pilsbry was only able to give 

 a very slight account of their anatomy .'- 



Pilsbry^ has also described the anatomy of N. Knysnaiinsis from 

 a contracted spirit specimen, and recently Pace has published a short 

 account of the anatomy of N. IVimeni in the Proceedings of this 

 Society.* Most of these accounts, however, are based on imperfect or 

 badly -contracted spirit specimens, so that it seems advisable to give 

 a more detailed description of the anatomy of this interesting genus 

 founded upon dissections of fresh and carefully -killed specimens. 



Natalina Caffra was originally described as Helix Caffra by Ferussac : 

 it was placed by Albers with the Helices on purely conchological 

 grounds, but in a distinct genus, jErope; this name, being pre-occupied 

 for an Echinoderm, must be dropped, and Natalina substituted. Tlie 

 animal was first described by Mcirch,^ who pointed out its true 

 affinities with the Agnatha, from the study of its lingual apparatus. 



> Proc. Zool. Soc. 1889, p. 327. 



2 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1890, pp. 241-243. 



3 Ihid. 1889, pp. 277-279. 



♦ Proc. Malac. Soc. Lond., vol. i, 1895, pp. 232, 233. 



* Jouru. d. Conchyliolo!,nc, 1865, p. 395. 



