41 S Notes on the Classification of the Corbiculadm, etc. 

 12. Cyrena Chilina, now spec. 



C. testa trigona, inaequilaterali, compressiuscula ; epidermide 

 olivacea vestita ; striis irregularibus ; umbonibus brevibus ; valvis 

 intus pallide violaceis, sinu pallii angulari. 



Long. 52 ; lat. 43 ; diam. 2S mill. 



Hal, — Chili, American Meridionalis. 



Genus VELORITA. 

 2. Velorita parvula, nov. spec. 



V. testa parvula, cuneiformi, cordato-trigona, valde inaequilate- 

 rali ; epidermide atro-viridi, nitentissime vestita ; umbonibus infla- 

 tis incurvis ; valvis intus superne rubescentibus ad margine3 

 pallide coernleis. 



Long. 21 ; lat. IS ; diam. 13 mill. 



Hah.— ? Collect. Prime. 



XLIII. — Notes on the Classification of the Corbiculadm, etc. 



By Temple Prime. 

 Read April 8, 186T. 



Some time since, in a memoir prepared for the Smithsonian 

 Institution, I called attention to the unsatisfactory classification 

 adopted in the family Oorbiculadae, and attributed it to the 

 fact, that it was based solely upon characters drawn from the 

 hard parts of the animal. It is now generally received that a 

 classification, to be sound, must be founded upon indicia 

 derived from both the hard and soft parts. 



Our excuse for the course heretofore pursued with regard to 

 this family is that up to the present time, and even now, the 

 opportunities afforded for examination of the soft parts have 

 been very few. 



