278 PROCEEDINGS OF THE MALACOLOGICAL SOCIETr. 



in which the groove adjacent to the dorsal area is much broader than 

 the other, and anteriorly approaches its fellow on the opposite side, 

 imparting to the alveolar region of the guard a subtriangular cross- 

 section. The other groove on each side, i.e. the groove nearer the 

 middle of the lateral area, is much narrower, and from it originate the 

 vascular impressions which pass on to the ventral surface of the guard, 

 where they form a very conspicuous character. 



In the present specimen each dorso-lateral depression appears, then, 

 to be comparable with the more dorsal member of each double dorso- 

 lateral groove in the genus Belemnitella^ whilst the incised grooves 

 bounding the ventral surface appear to be comparable with the more 

 nearly lateral component of each dorso - lateral groove in the same 

 genus. The presence or absence of a ventral slit in this 

 specimen is not determinable, owing to the imperfection of the anterior 

 portion of the alveolar region ; if a slit existed it was com- 

 paratively short, but the slight indentation (referred to above) in the 

 middle of the ventral surface at the anterior end of the specimen the 

 writer is disposed to regard as accidental. 



The specimen appears, then, to be generieally distinct, and, whilst 

 being most nearly related to such Eocene forms as Bayanoteuthis, and 

 especially to Vasseuria, forms a connecting link between these genera 

 and the Cretaceous genus Belemnitella. Although only a single 

 example is known, the form is so important that the writer proposes 

 for it the name Styracoteuthis,^ and, for its tiivial designation, suggests 

 the term orientalis. 



' ffTupa^, aKocr, .spike at lower end of spear. 



