OF CONCHOLOGY. 107 



ternally yellowish pink, upper whorls a little livid, last whorl 

 with a few indistinct revolving brown lines, frequently inter- 

 rupted. Traces of obscure, revolving ridges appear in a few 

 places on the last whorl. Shell with four whorls, of which the 

 upper three form less than one-sixth of the whole length, though 

 acuminated. 



Lon. 1-3 ; lat. -9 in. ; den. -80°. 



Habitat, St. George's Island, Bering Sea. One perfect 

 specimen and fragments, Dall, 1868. 



This shell has precisely the form of Vohitharpa, but its non- 

 canaliculated suture, solid texture, coloration and general aspect 

 confirm me in my belief that it is a true Biiccinum. It is 

 nearest to B. cyaneum, Brug., to which, for some time, I was 

 disposed to refer it as a variety. Dr. Carpenter and Dr. Stimp- 

 son appeared to dissent from this view, and after a careful com- 

 parison of it with several hundred specimens of B. cyaneum, 

 finding no specimens which appear intermediate in form, I have 

 ventured to describe it. I should here remark that the B. cy- 

 aneum here alluded to (as identified with the eastern B. cyaneum, 

 Brug., by Dr. Stimpson,) is perhaps the dwarf variety alluded 

 to by him in his Review of the Northern Buccinums. At all 

 events, none of the specimens from Alaska approach the large 

 typical form in size, none exceeding an inch and a half in 

 length. They are stated to have been described by Moeller as 

 B. Humphreysianum (not of Bennet), and from specimens named 

 by Mr. Cuming are the same as Vohitharpa Mcerchiana, Fisch., 

 although the specimen figured is more depressed than the ma- 

 jority of specimens. I have, however, specimens from Sitka 

 which exactly agree with it. Since the differences in size, &c, 

 are so constant, aud the large form has not yet been described 

 from the North Pacific, it would, perhaps, be well to retain M. 

 Fischer's name in a varietal sense, if, indeed, it be not specifi- 

 cally distinct from the large eastern cyaneum of Brugiere. 



The Fischerianum differs from the var. Moerchianum, above 

 referred to, in the absence of the regular grooves and revolving 

 ridges which characterize that form, in its much more inflated 

 shape and in the proportions of the spire, which is rather acu- 

 minated in the majority of specimens of Moerchianum, (though 

 not in that figured by M. Fischer), in having, though a larger 

 shell, a smaller number of whorls ; and in its more pleasing 

 coloration especially of the aperture. The pattern of coloration 

 is the same. The columella, too, is more arched and broader, 

 and the canal shorter, wider, and more shallow than in the 

 Moerchianum. I have another allied, but apparently undescribed, 

 species, from Unalashka, which, as it is decorticated, I do not 

 feel willing to characterize. 



