OF SOUTIIEEX INDIA. lijl 



typical Veniella appears rather constant iu all the species from various formations, 

 but it seems hardly sufficient to base a generic character upon ; I shall, therefore, 

 retain it as a sub-genus only. 



Thus comparing the characters of the various forms of Veniella with those 

 of Glossiis, or Jleiocardia and Cardiodonta, the differences are readily seen ; 

 nil the sliells, no doubt, belong to the same type, but the arrangement and 

 Ibrm of the cardinal teeth present remarkable and constant distinctions. I will 

 particularly mention Glossocardia, because its upper cardinal teeth are almost 

 identical with those of Veniella, but while the antero-inferior tooth of the left 

 valve of the last genus is horizontally prolonged and flexuous, the same tooth is 

 in Glossocardia recurved downwards towards itself, resembling that of the recent 

 Callocardia ; and again the corresponding tooth of the right valve is in Veniella 

 always elongated and attenuated in front, while in Glossocardia it is tubercular, 

 separated anteriorly from the margin by a deeji groove. 



Veniella forms, as regards shape, a transition from Tvajjezium and Glossus to 

 Cyprina ; the only difference being that in the latter there is a separate tooth 

 l^resent in place of the sickle-shaped end of the supero-posterior tooth of the right 

 valve of Veniella. 



Conrad (Am. Journ Conch., vol. ii, 1866, p. 103,) says of Veniella, "a genus 

 vmknown in the tertiary." From what I have already stated, it is unnecessary to 

 say that Mr. Conrad's statements in confining certain genera to certain forma- 

 tions have no foundation whatever. Veniella, as restricted, and the sub-genus 

 Anisocardia, (and probably also VenilicardiaJ , certainly occur in strata from the 

 jurassics up to the upper tertiaries and have their analogue among recent shells in 

 Jleiocardia, Callocardia, and Glossocardia. 



13. Goniosoma, Con., 1869, (Am. Jour. Conch., v, p. 43). Shell sub-quadran- 

 gular, moderately tumid, angular along the region from the beak to the infero- 

 posterior end ; muscular impressions marginal, palKal line — ? hinge in the 

 right valve with two prominent cardinal teeth and a long anterior lateral, parallel 

 with the hinge margin; type G. inflata. Con., from cretaceous rocks of New 

 Jersey. The external form of this sheU resembles Veniella, but the hinge appears 

 to be very different. 



14. Ci/prina, Lam., 1812. Shell more or less inflated, cordate, with the 

 valves uniformly convex, or along the posterior margin carinated, ligament external 

 placed in a longitudinal groove and supported by more or less thickened fulcra ; each 

 valve with three cardinal and one posterior lateral tooth ; in the right there is a 

 strong, generally bifid posterior cardinal tootb, and two anterior cardinals placed 

 somewhat obliquely one above the other and connected by a low ridge ; both 

 these teeth are highest posteriorly and attenuate anteriorly, and a slight rido-e 

 which continues in the latter direction bounds above and below an obliquely 

 extending groove ; in the left valve we have a long and tliin posterior cardinal tootli 

 and two anterior, placed almost side by side ; the first (or middle) one is pj^ramidal 

 and laterally compressed, being stretched in a more or less vertical direction ; tlie 



