12 SMITH : NOTES UPON CASSIDARIA AND OMSCIA. 



genera, one of which is tenable, have precedence, namely, Moi'io, 

 Montfort, and Galeodea, Link. 



The Rev. R. Boog Watson' rejected Morio in favour of 

 Cassidaria, hec^.^lse ^^ LatreHle used ih?i\. name in the same year, 

 and, as I believe, with acceptance, for a group of Coleoptera." 

 If Mr. Watson had looked up Latreille's description,' he would 

 ha^•e found that he originally wrote his genus Movion. He did, 

 however, subsequently* use the term Movio, which has been, and 

 is still, generally employed by Coleopterists. As there is a Latin 

 word iiioi'ion, with a signification different from that oi Morio, there 

 really was no occasion for him to make the change. Under any cir- 

 cumstances, Montfort's name should take precedence, and it 

 would seem to me advisable for the Coleopterists to revert to the 

 genus Morion as first of all written by Latreille. 



Mr. Watson also rejects Link's name Galeodea, published in 

 1807, because " Galeodes had been already employed by Martini 

 in 1 77 1 for his group of Semicassis, in which he included Cassidaria 

 echinophora, Linne, the type of Link's genus. The same name, 

 too, was used by Olivier in 1791 for a genus of Arachnida, and by 

 Bolten in 1798 for a group of Pyrula and Purpura." 



Although Galeodea is not absolutely identical with Galeodes, it 

 evidently has a similar derivation, and therefore I quite agree 

 with Mr. Watson in rejecting it. 



The case with Morio, however, is different, and I do not see 

 how we can avoid using it, if we pay attention to the usually 

 accepted " law of priority.'" Cassidaria, too, also included species 

 of " Tritoniidce," Cassis, and Oniseia, and it was not until 1824, 

 two years after it was properly founded by Lamarck, that it was 

 assigned its present limits by Sowerby.^ Moreover, if we 

 accepted 1822 as the date of Cassidaria, it could not be used, as 

 Echiuora of Schumacher has five years' precedence. 



With regard to the signification of the terms Morio and 

 Morion, respectively used by Montfort and Latreille, we have no 

 guidance. According to Smith's Latin Dictionary, morio 

 signifies a fool or jester ; morio or morion a dark brown gem ; 



2 Gasteropoda of the '■ Challenger," p. 410. 



3 Consider, pen. Crust., txc, iSio, pp. 159 and 425. 



4 Cuvier's Regne Anini., vol. iii., p. i8g (1817). 



Gen. Recent and Foss. shells Number xxiii. (1S24). 



