A. S. Foord 8f G. C. Crick — On Nautilus Neocomiensis. 25 



V. — Note on the Identity of Nautilus Neocomiensis, Sharpe 

 {non d'Orbigny) with Nautilus Deslongchampsianus, d'Orb. 



By Arthur H. Foord, F.G.S. ; 



and G. C. Crick, Assoc.R.S.M., F.G.S. , 



Assistant in the Geological Department, British Museum. 



IN 1853, in bis " Description of the Fossil Eemains of Mollusca 

 found in the Chalk of England " (Mon. Pal. Soc), Sharpe 

 described and figured a specimen under the name of Nautilus 

 Neocomiensis, d'Orbigny. He states (loc. cit. p. 15), "We have only 

 seen one small specimen from the Grey Chalk, which we can refer 

 to this species ; it is from Urchfont near Devizes, in the Collection 

 of Mr. Cunnington, and is 2 inches in its greatest diameter and 1^ 

 inch in breadth ; although a good deal broken, it shows all the 

 peculiar characters of the species. The species is more common in 

 the Lower Greensand of Dorking, Atherfield, Sandgate, etc., where 

 it sometimes reaches above 7 inches in diameter. M. d'Orbigny 

 quotes it as common in the lower beds of the Middle Division of the 

 Neocomian Formation in France." 



The specimen referi-ed to is now in the British Museum (No. 

 88640). It is a natural cast and in its badly preserved state the 

 flexuous ribs appear to be rounded. A close examination of the 

 fossil, however, reveals distinct traces of fine longitudinal lines 

 between the ribs, a character which suggests affinities with Nautilus 

 Deslongchampsiamis, d'Orbigny. Moreover the remains of the body- 

 chamber, the posterior portion of which Sharpe has represented in 

 his plate v. fig. 3c, show, on either side, at a short distance from 

 the umbilicus, the keel so characteristic of the same species. The 

 area between the keel and the umbilicus is also marked by faint, 

 raised, longitudinal lines. The umbilical portion of the remainder 

 of the specimen is too much broken to show the keel distinctly. 

 The rest of the characters of the specimen, viz., the general form, 

 the form of the sutui-es and the position of the siphuncle, all agree 

 perfectly with Nautilus Deslongchampsianiis, and there can be no 

 doubt that the specimen referred by Sharpe to Nautilus Neocomiensis 

 is only a small, much-broken and badly-preserved specimen of 

 Nautilus DeslongcJiampianus. The locality and horizon of the fossil 

 also support this conclusion. 



Erratum— In Geol. Mag. December, 1890, p. 551, fourth line from top of 

 page, insert Not before the paragraph beginning " 1853. JSaiitilus pseudoehgaus, 

 Sharpe," and ending "figs. 2a, 2d." 



VI. — A Catalogue of British Fossil Yertebrata. 

 Supplement for 1890. 

 By Arthur Smith Woodward, F.G.S., F.Z.S., 

 and Charles Davies Sherborn, F.G.S., F.Z.S. 



]N the Palaeontology of the Vertebrata, so much progress is made 

 in various directions in Britain, that it seems advisable to 

 attempt to bring up to date the record of the subject prepared and 

 published by the writers a year ago. The following list may thus 



