138 PROCEEDINGS OF THE MALACOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



wall recalls Despcena. Until their anatomy is known it must remain 

 uncertain whether their true relationship he with the one or the other, 

 or, indeed, whether Despcena and Helieina do not really helong to one 

 varying stock, of which these Asiatic genera may be the more 

 primitive forms. 



But little seems to he known of the fossil ancestry of Despcena, etc. 

 Dimorphopt-i/cMa Arnouldi, Michaud, from the Paris Basin, appears 

 to be nearly related to Heudeia and Cah/hium ; a single species of 

 Despoena, under the manuscript name of Woodwardi, has also been 

 recorded from the Bembridge Beds of the Isle of Wight by 

 Mr. Newton. 1 



Since this paper was written and read, Mr. Newton has kindly called my 

 attention to the description by Moore (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xxvii, 

 1867, p. 549, pi. xv, figs. 3, 4) of a shell from the Lias under the name of 

 Proserpina Lyelli. Judging from the description and figure, I fancy the species 

 does not helong to this group : it may very possibly be a Helicoid related to 

 some of the larger species known to-day from South America. 



