194 STILIFERIDiE. 



or dried '' beche de mer/^ of which the Japanese are so 

 fond, frequently contains these shells. But this is not 

 a case of parasitism : the Eulima feeds the Holothuria, 

 instead of feeding upon it. 



The name of this genus has been of late years, pro- 

 bably from carelessness, incorrectly spelt with a y, viz. 

 Stylifer. Although the Greek orthography is followed 

 in our w^ord style, the Latin word is stilus, and not sty- 

 lus ; it is, of course, from the Latin that Stilifer is de- 

 rived. Broderip was too good a scholar to have made 

 such a mistake. It has been lately suggested that the 

 name is compounded of the Greek words cttOXo? and 

 (ftepco ; but if that were so the name would be Stylipher, 

 as in oenophorum. Whether it is correct to form a 

 generic name with an adjective, may be open to doubt ; 

 but use has sanctioned it in the present instance, as well 

 as in Spirifer, Stiliger, Lobiger, lanthina, Vitrina, and 

 many other names of general acceptation. Fleming sug- 

 gested that the PhasianeUa stilifera of Tui'ton " should 

 probably constitute a new genus — Sty Una/' This was 

 prior to Broderip^s publication. However, Fleming^s 

 suggestion was not accompanied by any diagnosis ; and 

 the name Stilina had been twelve years previously en- 

 gaged by Lamarck for a tropical genus of stony Polypes. 

 Its adoption for the mollusk also would, moreover, be 

 contrary to the law of usage, Stilifer having now been 

 recognized for between thirty and forty years. I am 

 aware that this is one of the questions of scientific no- 

 menclature upon which naturalists are by no means 

 agreed. I do not pretend to set myself up as a judge, 

 ind my opinion may l)c taken for what it is worth. 



