SMITH : ON SPECIES OF MITRIDiE. 125 



callo crasso induta, callo interdum sursum producto et labro juncto. 

 Long. 70, diam. 23*5 mm. ; apertura 33 mm. longa, 8 lata. 



Hab.—'^ 



The transverse punctate sulci are eight to nine in number on the 

 ])enultimate whorl, and about six on the upper whorls. There are 

 about twenty-five on the body-whorl, exclusive of those upon the 

 extreme anterior end. 



In 1874, when the late Mr. Sowerby published his monograph of 

 the genus Mitra, three specimens of the present species in the British 

 Museum from the Cuming Collection were labelled ^'- propinqiia, 

 A. Ad." These the late Mr. Sowerby, evidently without investigation, 

 r(!garded as correctly named. However, as pointed out by Tryon, 

 they belong to quite a distinct species, and it is to be regretted that 

 lie did not at the time give it a distinctive name. The name 

 propinqua was subsequently used by Garrett ' for two species of 

 -Mitridae, namely, Mitra propinqua, from the Society Islands, and 

 Tnrricula propinqua from the Viti Islands. As nothing is known of 

 these species beyond their descriptions, no figures of them having yet 

 appeared, it seems advisable at present not to suggest fresh names for 

 them, but to wait until we have more evidence of their validity as 

 distinct species. 



A few months ago Mr. Sowerby kindly called my attention to this 

 confusion of nomenclature, and therefore, with his permission, I have 

 associated with this fine but hitherto wrongly named species the 

 name of Brettingham, a patronymic connected with five successive 

 generations of the Sowerby family. 



Mitra nebulosa, Broderip. 

 Mitra nehulosa (Swainson, MSS.), Broderip, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1835, 



p. 193; Dohrn, Malak. Blatt., 1861, vol. viii, p. 134. 

 M. infecta, Reeve, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1844, p. 173 ; Conch. Icon., vol. ii, 

 fig. 75; Tryon, Man. Conch., vol. iv, pi. xlvii, fig. 377. 



Hah — Annaa I., Paumotu Archipelago. 



Reeve was the first to cause confusion with regard to this species, 

 and, although his error was pointed out by Dohrn, the correction was 

 not noted by the late Mr. Sowerbv in his monograph of the genus. ^ 

 On p. 17 he observes : " Erroneously represented in Reeve as a smooth 

 shell." This remark, however, is not correct, for Reeve carefully 

 described the species as " encircled with impressed striae," which are 

 also faintly indicated in the figure. The shell figured by Mr. Sowerby 

 as M. infecta (pi. ccclxxviii, fig. 607) has quite strong transverse 

 sulci, and appears to me to represent another species. Tryon, as was 

 his wont, made matters worse by lumping together the typical form, 

 Sowerby's version of it, and the M. Barclayi of Hanley. The last 

 species is certainly distinct, but allied to M. ahbatis. It is, however, 

 more finely striated, and has not the turreted whorls of that species, 

 although it closely resembles it in style of coloration. 



1 Journ. of Conch., vol. iii (1880), pp. 22 and o8. 

 « Thes. Conch., vol. iv (1874). 



