THE ANNALS 



ANB 



MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



[THIRD SERIES.] 

 No. 116. AUGUST 1867. 



X. — On Waldheimia venosa, Solander, sp. 

 By Thomas Davidson, F.R.S., F.G.S., &c. 

 To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. 

 Gentlemen, 



A gi'eat deal of valuable matter in connexion with the Recent 

 Brachiopoda has from time to time been contributed to the 

 'Annals,' and consequently I would solicit space for a few re- 

 marks with reference to the largest recent specimen, and species, 

 of Brachiopoda hitherto discovered, and of which we are now in 

 possession of the correct habitat. 



In the 'Annals' for June 1861, Mr. Lovell Reeve mentions 

 that I had communicated to him the discovery that either 

 fValdheimia glubosa or W. dilatata had been collected nearly a 

 century ago by the illustrious navigator Capt. Cook, and named 

 by Solander Anomia venosa, that the name only appeared in 

 manuscript at first in the Portland Catalogue, but that a few 

 years later another specimen had been brought to England from 

 the same locality (the Falkland Islands) by Capt. George Dixon, 

 and in the narrative of his expedition, published in London in 

 1789, a very excellent figure and description had been given of 

 it. The designation Waldheimia venosa, Solander, was con- 

 sequently adopted by Mr. L. Reeve and myself, as it was the 

 earliest name given to the largest recent form of Terebratula 

 hitherto discovered. 



On the 3rd of April of the present year, Rear-Admiral B. J. 

 Sulivan kindly forwarded for my inspection and determination 

 a Terebratula much exceeding in dimensions any I had hitherto 

 seen ; and I was informed at the same time that he had dredged 

 it alive in the outer harbour of Port William, at the Falkland 

 Islands, in the year 1843 or 1844. The depth at which the 

 animal lived was from six to seven fathoms; the bottom on 

 which the shell lay was a compact quartzose sand only, as no 

 mud ever comes up with the dredge, although a stiff muddy 



Ann. l^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol.xx. 6 



