9^ MONOGRAPH OF TSE GENUS GNATSOTiON— BALL. vol.xvii. 



it having references iu it to the number of the Zoological Journal pub- 

 lished September, 1831. In December, 1831, Desmoulins read to 

 the Linnean Society of Bordeaux a paper published by that Society 

 February 15, 1832, containing an excellent figure and account of the 

 species under the name of Rangia cyrcnoides, which name was adopted 

 by Conrad in his American Marine Conchology, who at the same time 

 mentioned the earlier unpublished Clathroilon of Gray. The "Genera" 

 of Sowerby and Conrad's Marine Conchology were both rather obscure ; 

 publications, the dates of several parts of which are difficult to discover, 

 and both tlie authors, Gray and Conrad, appear to have forgotten 

 about these early publications. The former in 1847 gives the date of 

 his Gnathodon as " 1837," which is possibly a misprint for 1831. Conrad 

 in 1832 adopted -Baw^m; in 1833 he was disposed to revive Gray's man- 

 uscript name of C/a//iro(Zow on the ground of courtesy; in 1834 Eang 

 seems to have no doubt that the name Gnathodon had been published 

 before Desmoulins's Bangia, and adopts the former. In 1838 Conrad 

 adopts Gnathodon, and uses it again in 1840. In 1860 he reverts to 

 Bangia, and continues to use it in 1863, when he proposes a subgeneric 

 name, Perissodon, for the fossil R. Grayi, and in 1868 anotlier subgeneric 

 name, Rangianella, for a Pacific species. The latter of these names was 

 defined. It may be noted that Gnathodon was employed by Jardine 

 for a genus of birds in 1845, and Rangia by Agassiz, in 1860, for a 

 genus of Cfelenterates. The hame Gnathodon is masculine, and the 

 specific names should take a masculine termination. Monographic 

 lists of the genus have been printed by Conrad (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 

 Phila. for 1860, p. 232); Prime (Proc. Boston Soc. IS^. Hist., vii, p. 347, 

 1861); Fischer (,lourn. de Conch., ix, p. 212, 1861); Conrad (Am. Journ. 

 Couch., Ill, Suppl. Cat. of MactrUhv, p. 30, 1868) ; and Eeeve (Conch. 

 Icon., XIX, 1873). Singularly enough, neither of these authors has 

 given the synonymy of tlie generic Uiune correctly. The date of 1831, 

 when Desmoulins's paper was read, is assigned to Rangia, which, how- 

 ever, was not published until February, 1832. The date of 1831 is 

 assigned to Conrad's mention of the genus in his American Marine 

 Conchology, though he adopts Rangia, which was not published until 

 1832, and it is highly probable that the part of Conrad's work contain- 

 ing Rangia did not appear until 1833, since it was contained in the 

 fifth fasciculus, and the third fasciculus is dated May, 1832. At all 

 events it can not be earlier than the latter part of 1832. Gray's man- 

 uscript name of Clathrodon was never formally proposed in print, and 

 Conrad's earliest mention of it is in 1833. 



Gray and Desmoulins both referred the genus to the Mactridw, while 

 pointing out that in certain features it recalled Cyrenida\ This view 

 has generally prevailed, though lately Dr. Paul Fischer concluded 

 (Manual, p. 1095) tliat it ismore nearly related to Cyrena. Bang's notes 

 on the anatomy were probably made on defective material ; at all events, 

 they contain several errors which tend to obscure the raactroid affini- 



