125 



corroborate an opmion which I have some time held, that the C. exi- 

 mia was not a fossil, but carried inland by the aborigines, and fell 

 from near the surface to the position in which it was said to be found. 

 Vide pp. 29Q, 297" 



6. On Cypr^a umbilicata and C. eximia of Sowerby. 

 By J. E. Gray, Esq. 



Cypreea umbilicata was described from a single specimen which 

 was formerly in the Tankerville Collection and is now in the British 

 Museum. From its external resemblance to some specimens of Cy- 

 prcea Pantherina, some peculiarities in its formation, and especially 

 from certain apparent irregularities in its teeth, it has been thought 

 that it might be a monstrosity or irregular growth of that species. 



The discovery of the habitat by Mr. Gunn, who has kindly sent 

 two specimens of the species to Europe, has removed this impression, 

 and shown that it is a distinct species ; and that what was regarded 

 as the irregularities in the plaits of the front of the pillar, is in fact 

 the normal form of the species. 



Such being the case shows that the species should be removed 

 from the genus Cypreea, as restricted in my monograph in the Zoo- 

 logical Journal, and placed in the genus Cyprovula, first described in 

 that work. 



The shell, instead of having the single large plait in front of the 

 inner lip separated from other plaits by a wide space, has the front 

 of the inner lip covered with several oblique plaits, nearly up to the 

 front edge of the notch. 



It also agrees with Cyprovula in the spire being concave or sunken, 

 forming a deep umbilicus. 



Cypreea eximia, figured in Strzelecki's 'New South Wales and 

 Van Diemen's Land,' is a very nearly allied species, and equally a 

 Cyprovula {eximia). It differs in the body being more globular and 

 the canal longer. Both these species are to be distinguished from 

 the other Cyprovvlce by the canal at each end of the mouths being 

 more developed and produced : they also both have a somewhat an- 

 gular depression across the upper part of the anterior canal, at the an- 

 terior extremity of the dorsal line, evidently formed by the junction 

 of the two expansions of the mantle in this part. 



The elongation of the canals, and the depression above referred to, 

 are more developed in Cyprovula eximia than in Cy2}rovula umbilicata. 

 They are, especially the latter, the giants of the genus. The original 

 specimen of C. eximia is in the cabinet of jNIr. John Morris of Ken- 

 sington. 



To give some idea of the extraorduiary price which is now some- 

 times required for shells, I may state that the second specimen of 

 this Cowry, sent home by Mr. Gunn to a Loudon collector, was 

 offered by him to Miss Saul for £30, and eventually realised that 

 price. 



