306 BULLETIN OF THE 



truth abides be considered as a binomial author. His names, when adopted Ijy 

 some one who recognizes the Liunean nomenclature, may stand, but not as of 

 Klein, who opposed Linnseus and all his works. Humphrey is the first to 

 adopt the Kleinian Scala for the genus, and, though he gave no definition, yet 

 in this case there is no doubt as to the species referred to. It would seem, there- 

 fore, as if the interests of science would be better served by adopting the name 

 of Humphrey, than by stickling for the exact letter of the law. This is the 

 course I have decided to follow. 



The dentition of the Scalidse is little known, only a few species having been 

 examined. It varies from a series of perfectly simple, rather short, arcuate 

 laterals, to those in which the tip of the tooth is denticulated, and the shaft 

 is long, slender, and nearly straight, except at the base and tip. These differ- 

 ences do not march with the conchological characters, S. communis Lamarck 

 having simple teeth (Troschel), and »S'. Saynna Dall {S. clathrus Say pro parte), 

 so similar as to shell that Say united it with communis under the name of 

 clathrus, having denticulate teeth. The foot in some species is bifid and doubly 

 carinate behind the operculum, as in S. Sayana, but this is also the case in 

 species like S. Trevelyana with a widely diff'erent shell. On the other hand, 

 S. communis has the foot tapering to a point behind (Jeffreys), and S. lineata 

 Say has it rounded (Stimpson). The operculum may be either stout and black, 

 or pellucid horny. The animal has a gizzard provided with horny plates having 

 a reticulated grinding surface. The Scalidce are carnivorous, and have separate 

 sexes. 



The soft parts of but few species are known, and the fact that their differ- 

 ences as far as observed do not correspond to differences of the shell as between 

 one species and another, renders the task of assorting the very numerous forms 

 into an orderly and natural arrangement still more difficult. The number of 

 subgenera or sections which have been proposed, in the light of present knowl- 

 edge, seems extraordinary, in so compact a group. Several of them, as those 

 of Conrad, seem to have been offered in the absence of any differential charac- 

 ters, and for that reason without a diagnosis, while on the other hand some 

 minute forms, at first referred to this family, such as Scaliola A. Adams, have 

 proved, on investigation of the soft parts, to belong to a totally different family. 

 In regard to some of the fossil forms, such as Funis Seeley, Holopella McCoy, 

 and Cochlearia Munster, all of which have been referred to this family, the 

 decision in any case must be hypothetical and unsatisfactory. Hoplopteron 

 Fischer, at first sight most extraordinary, seems on further investigation to be 

 related rather to the EulimidcR. Opalia anomala Stearns has, however, a 

 similar lateral arrangement of the varices, which in form are paralleled in sev- 

 eral species of Scala provided with a larger number than is the type of Hoplo- 

 pteron. Other species of Scala have quite as compact a spire. Still it may 

 prove eventually, as Scaliola did, to belong to quite an unexpected group when 

 the soft parts are known, a contingency which is rendered more probable by 

 its minute size (1.15 mm.). This is also the opinion of Dr. Fischer, who, in 

 his latest work, has referred Hoplopteron to the Eulimidce\ 



