■80 THE NAUTILUS. 



almost every tint of blue ; and in form it may be oval, the posterior 

 «nd may be truncated as in Unio elegans, or it may be so drawn out 

 as to be scarcely distinguishable when small, from Venus flexuosus. 

 Were there no connecting links I could make a half dozen good 

 species from the shells in my collection. Some specimens have an 

 epidermis almost as rough as its congener C. carolinensis, while in 

 others it is almost totally lacking. In all the species I have cited 

 there are connecting links which show that these variations are 

 merely forms of one and the same thing. 



In view of these facts and numberless others which could be given 

 of the extensive variability of species, and measured by such a 

 definition as I have given of the word, how ridiculous is the practice 

 of nan)ing every possible variation and form, now so much in vogue 

 with the new school of conchologists ; a practice which, I am sorry 

 to say, is not confined to them alone, nor to the present time. M. 

 Bourguignat, who may be fairly considered a representative of this 

 school, says he knows 162 species of Helix of the group Poniatia, and 

 that of these he possesses 151 . And he classifies them into two grand 

 sections and nineteen series ! One feels like using the language of the 

 haj)]iy father who, when the nurse presented him with triplets, the 

 results of a single birth, exclaimed in utter astonishment, "Great 

 Scott! did any get away?" Why don't they name and describe 

 every individual shell and be done with it ? This would certainly 

 be one way out of the dilemma. 



( To he continued.) 



DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF OCINEBRA. 



BY F. C. BAKER. 



Ocinebra jenksii 15;ikor. 



Shell fusiform, thick, ash-colored, shouldered on the whorls ; whorls 

 Ti, two apical smooth, rounded, white ; the second is but little larger 

 than the first; the third is provided with a distinct carina about 

 midway of the whorl ; the rest are strongly shouldered and angular. 

 There are on each whorl nine to ten longitudinal ribs, crossed by 

 ten very strong, coarse line, which cut the surface of the shell into 

 coarse reticulations. The spire is high, pointed, and occupies about 

 half the length of the entire shell. Aperture oblong-ovate, choco- 



