The lion. E. Chitty on the Stoastoniidjc. 



71 



Fortunately I happen to he "the correspondent " who found the 

 shell .V. pisuin in " a living state;" when it is, and continues after, 

 if so taken, of a "sea-green" colour externally. I have also exa- 

 mined the outward form of the animal. The following are my rough 

 original notes made long ago upon it : — 



"Stoastoma pisum. 

 " The animal seems to have hut one pair of horns, and is thus 

 shaped. 



[The drawing supposes the animal to be in motion.] 

 " Horns short, thick at hase, and pointed. Mollusk black, or of 

 the darkest bottle-green. Seems to aid its progress by its snout." 



So different, then, is the animal and shell from either Cydosto- 

 miilce or Helicinidce, that with propriety we may take it out of either 

 family and place it as a distinct family, Stoastomid^, Adams, 

 which I divide into the following genera ; adding, however, to Adams' 

 description, " all the species " — "are sculptured with spiral lines ;" 

 this, '• except very rarely, as in the instance of S. Philippianmn ; " 

 and it is right also to mention, that this family possesses the habit 

 of absorbing part of the internal structure of their shells, as pointed 

 out by Mr. Bland in a paper read before the Lyceum of Nat. Hist. 

 N. Y. (see Annals), Feb. 27th, 185-1. 

 The genera will stand thus : — 



First, those most singidar shells having, as it were, two mouths, 

 such as the only two hitherto known, St. Agassizianum, Ad., and St. 

 Philippianum, Ad., demand a section to themselves. These and two 

 others I shall call Genus Lewisia, in compliment to Prof. L. 

 Agassiz. 



Secondly, those beautiful ones, like St. Gouldiamim, with long 

 projecting termination of the last whorl, and such decided sculpture of 

 a few (four or six) strong transverse striae, with fine ones intervening 

 — being all of subdiscoidal form (" Gouldia " being preoccupied 

 among marine shells), I shall call Genus "Wilkinson.«a," in honour 

 to the memory of the lady whose name it bears, as well as to that of 

 Adams, it being the second shell of the kind he described : with a 

 subdivision for those devoid of the lengthened last whorl, but with 

 similar sculpture. 



Thirdly, those singular shells with somewhat depressed spire, sub- 



