32 R. F. Rand — Angra Pequena 



that the siphuncle in Nautilus can hardly serve for such a purpose 

 as Mr. Spath suggests. The animal would fit sufficiently tightly 

 in the shell to prevent its falling out, even when the shell muscles 

 were detached.^ For instance, some force is needed to pull a dead 

 gastropod, such as a snail, from its shell even after the muscle 

 attachment is broken. 



Without discussing at any greater length the functions of the 

 Ammonite siphuncle it may be mentioned that in the writer's 

 opinion the suggestions of Foord^ and Dr. Henry Woodward* are 

 much more reasonable than those mentioned above. These writers 

 suggest that the siphuncle was of more importance in the young 

 animal, perhaps then serving for attachment, but that later on 

 this function was performed by the shell muscles. It is not unlikely 

 also that the siphuncle was of much greater importance in the early 

 stages of Cephalopod evolution than it is in Mesozoic and recent 

 forms. This will be more clearly recognized when an attempt is 

 made to assign a function to the siphuncle of a Belemnite, where it is 

 almost certainly nothing more than the remains of an organ which 

 was probably of value in the early history of the race, and perhaps 

 in the early development of the individual. The tendency for the 

 secretion of the siphuncular envelope in Ammonites to lag behind 

 shell-growth suggests that the value of the siphuncle may at least 

 have been declining. 



Angra Pequena (Liideritzbucht) and Subaerial 

 Denudation. 



By K. F. Band, M.D. 



TN recent years the name of Angra Pequena, conferred by 

 -*- Bartholomew Diaz, has been somewhat obscured by the designation 

 Liideritzbucht, the name given to this port during the German 

 occupation. The latter name still holds, although a compromise, 

 whereby the geographical area should retain the old name and the 

 town be known as Liideritz, seems desirable. 



Angra Pequena (Liideritzbucht) and Walfisch Bay are the only 

 two useful harbours of the South- West African Protectorate. Apart 

 from its harbour, the town of Liideritzbucht and the surrounding 

 district have received much attention owing to the considerable 

 finds of diamonds which have been made along the coast, both to 

 the north and to the south of the port. 



To the geologist the Angra Pequena area is of interest as affording 



1 This would be equally true of Ammonites, in which Mr. Spath suggests 

 that the complex lobes and saddles served as an attachment. See also Dr. W. D. 

 Lang, "The Evolution of Ammonites": Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xxx, 1919, 

 p. 63. 



^ H. O. Foord, Catalogue of Fossil Cephalopods in Brit. Mus., vol. i, 1888, 

 pp. 10-11. 



^ H. Woodward, Pop. Sci. Review, vol. xi, 1872, p. 113. 



