470 Mr. J. G. Jeffreys un Scissurella and Scliismope. 



Museum at Vienna, brought by the celebrated traveller and 

 naturalist Natterer from the vicinity of Borba on the Rio 

 Madeira, and numbered 833 of his collection. The bird closely 

 resembles the well-known C. pareola, but has the crest yellow. 

 Natterer's notes upon this species are : " From the underwood, 

 rather near the ground ; solitary." 



I believe it has never yet been published. 



XLIV. — On Scissurella and Schismope. 

 By J. GwYN Jeffreys, Esq., F.R.S. 



To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. 



Gentlemen, 

 Although I knew that naturalists were, like poets, a "genus 

 irritabile," I confess that I was not quite prepared for Mr. Wood- 

 ward's attack on me in your last Number. 



He says that, because he thinks he has discovered an error, 

 and had protested in vain against it, he was bound to publish. 

 I beg leave to dispute the conclusion, if not the whole of the 

 premises. 



When I showed Mr. Woodward specimens of the Scissiirella 

 striatula of Philippi (which I had much pleasure in presenting 

 him with), he called my attention to the conversion of the fissure 

 into a foramen when the shell became adult. We then referred 

 to Sowerby and Philippi ; and I went to the Library of the 

 British Museum and consulted D'Orbigny's Memoir. Mr. 

 Woodward having informed me that he did not intend to publish 

 on the subject, I did so, and mentioned in the March number 

 of the ' Annals ' that he had pointed out to me the peculiarity 

 in question, and at the same time I cited D'Orbigny's Memoir. 



About a fortnight afterwards, in consequence of Mr. Clark 

 having expressed his opinion that Scissurella was synonymous 

 or identical with Trochus, I made the further communication 

 which appeared in the ' Annals ' for last month ; and I then went 

 fully into the matter, being backed by the undeniable authority 

 of Dr. Gray. This, Mr. Woodward calls seeking to justify my 

 position by the " testimony of persons unacquainted with the 

 facts of the case" ! 



Mr. Woodward admitted to me that he had never previously 

 seen any species of Scissurella except S. crispata ; and as he does 

 not state that he has since seen any other, his belief that certain 

 species which were described and figured by D'Orbigny, Sowerby 

 and Philippi (eight in number) are varieties of one and the same 

 species, I leave to the judgment of your readers. 



