On the Identity of Cyclas elegans, &c. 67 



It was not until the summer of 1852, that having collected 

 some C. elegans in the waters of the same lake, I was impressed 

 with the idea that this might be Say's shell. 



On comparing figure 4 on plate I. (which is a true repre- 

 sentation of both the adult and young of C. elegans), with Say's 

 description, it will be found to tally in every respect, especially 

 if we take into consideration that the specimens from which 

 Say described, were not adults. 



Say's and Adams's descriptions are not quite similar; Say's is 

 shorter, but it is concise, and contains all that is requisite ; it ap- 

 proaches nearer to Gould's. Say and Adams, however, both 

 make the shells out to be rhomboidal, to have beaks that are not 

 prominent, and to be the same in coloring. 



Little as I like changing a well established name, I think 

 it, nevertheless, obligatory in this case ; and I have hopes that 

 naturalists, taking the three following very forcible reasons, first, 

 that the C. elegans answers the description of Say's C. rhom- 

 boidea; secondly, that it is found in the same locality; and' 

 thirdly, that no other Cyclas, coming at all under the scope of 

 Say's description, has ever been obtained from Lake Champlain ; 

 will see the necessity of the change, and will side with me for 

 the future, in considering Adams's C. elegans as Say's C. rhom~ 

 boidea, and in labelling it as such. 



Dekay, in his Report, has described and figured the adult 

 of this species under its true name ; the young, however, he calls 

 C. elegans. 



