322 Mr. E. A. Smith on African Mollmca. 



rendered it Desmoulea, a s|)elling- copied bj A. Adams *, 

 Tryoii t, Fisclier |, Chenu §, Kobelt ||, &c. At the time, 

 however, he gave no reason for the change, and quoted 

 ^^Desmoulea " as if it were the original spelling. 



Agassiz ^, Philippi **, Ilermannsen ft, and Dunker \\ 

 have all hinted that this genus might have some association 

 with the name of M. Charles DesmouHns, and Woodward, 

 in his ' ^lanual' (p. 112), has rendered it "Z>^swi02</ms?a," 

 regarding it as a synonym of Nassa. However, as Gray is 

 somewliut notorious for the number of "nonsense names" 

 which he has given to numerous genera, I have no doubt 

 this is a name of that description ; moreover, in the same 

 paper he created the genus Drillia, which apparently is also 

 meaningless. 



Philippi, that most excellent and accurate writer, employs 

 in his ' Handbuch der Conchyliologie,' p. 150, tlie original 

 term '^Demoulia ; " and this rendering I certainly think should 

 be maintained, a view also held by Crosse §§. 



The species which have been referred to this genus are all 

 figured in Tryon's ' Manual of Conchology,' vol. iv. pi. xviii. 

 figs. 361-370, and in Reeve's ' Concliologia Iconica,' vol. viii., 

 Nassa, pi. xxix. figs. 190-196. They are as follows : — 



1. DenwuUa pulchra, Gray. 



Demoulia abbreviata, A. Ad. 



Deinoulia jionderosa, Reeve, =cr«s.srt, A. Ad. 



Hah, Sierra Leone and Senegal. 



The locality " Japan " i'or crassa has never been confirmed. 



2. Demoulia retusa (Lamk.). 

 Hah. Cape Colony. 



3. Demoulia Tryoni, Crosse. 



Bob. ? 



This species is united by Tryon with D. retusa, but it 

 appears to me very different in many respects. 



* Proc. Zoo]. Soc. 1851, p. 113 ; Gen. Moll. vol. i. p. 115. 

 t Man. Moll. vol. iv. p. 05. \ Man. Conch, p. G34. 



§ Man. de Conch, p. IGl. 

 II Illustr. Conchylieubnch. p. 46. 



^ Nomencl. Zool. Moll. p. 29. ** Handbuch Conch, p. 150. 



tt Inditis pen. Malacoz. prim. vol. i. p. o77. 

 X\ Judex Moll. mar. jap. p. 34. 

 §§ Journ. de Conch. 1871, p. 71. 



