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  NOTES 
  OX 
  THE 
  GENUS 
  LIBERA. 
  

  

  By 
  J. 
  H. 
  FoNsoNBY, 
  F.Z.S. 
  

  

  Read 
  Wth 
  December, 
  1909. 
  

  

  The 
  genus 
  Libera 
  was 
  defined 
  b}^ 
  Garrett 
  in 
  Journ. 
  Acad. 
  Nat. 
  Sci. 
  

   Phil., 
  1881, 
  ser. 
  ii, 
  vol. 
  viii, 
  p. 
  390, 
  no 
  mention 
  being 
  made 
  of 
  any 
  

   tj'pe, 
  though 
  it 
  may 
  be, 
  perhaps, 
  inferred 
  from 
  a 
  remark 
  on 
  p. 
  389 
  

   that 
  he 
  considered 
  Helix 
  bursatella, 
  Gld., 
  1846, 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  type. 
  It 
  was 
  

   not 
  till 
  1894 
  that 
  Pilsbry, 
  in 
  the 
  Man. 
  Conch., 
  vol. 
  ix, 
  p. 
  23, 
  selected 
  

   subcaveniula, 
  Tryon, 
  to 
  represent 
  the 
  genus. 
  It 
  is, 
  perhaps, 
  a 
  pity 
  

   that 
  he 
  did 
  not 
  choose 
  the 
  older 
  species, 
  bursatella, 
  which 
  is 
  iu 
  every 
  

   way 
  typical, 
  besides 
  being 
  distinctly 
  in 
  literature 
  the 
  ancestor 
  of 
  the 
  

   group. 
  Gould 
  evidently 
  considered, 
  as 
  shown 
  by 
  his 
  description 
  and 
  

   figures, 
  that 
  he 
  was 
  dealing 
  with 
  one 
  very 
  variable 
  form, 
  but 
  several 
  

   species 
  were 
  subsequently 
  carved 
  out 
  of 
  it. 
  This 
  led 
  to 
  much 
  

   confusion, 
  for, 
  as 
  Garrett 
  rather 
  quaintly 
  observes, 
  "Dr. 
  Pfeiifer 
  

   appears 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  somewhat 
  bewildered 
  in 
  his 
  treatment 
  of 
  the 
  

   various 
  species 
  described 
  by 
  Gould, 
  Reeve, 
  Hoinbron 
  and 
  Jacquinot, 
  

   and 
  himself." 
  In 
  1849 
  Pfeiffer 
  described 
  Jacquinoti 
  and 
  coardata, 
  

   species 
  which 
  he 
  then 
  proceeded 
  to 
  mix 
  up 
  in 
  the 
  most 
  unaccountable 
  

   and 
  perplexing 
  way 
  with 
  others 
  described 
  by 
  Hombron 
  & 
  Jacquinot. 
  

   Garrett 
  subsequently 
  described 
  several 
  species, 
  and 
  his 
  excellent 
  

   papers 
  are 
  full 
  of 
  information 
  about 
  the 
  shells 
  and 
  their 
  inhabitants, 
  

   and 
  their 
  curious 
  habit 
  of 
  " 
  ovopositing 
  into 
  their 
  cavernous 
  umbilicus 
  " 
  

   (see 
  also 
  Cooke 
  in 
  Cambridge 
  Nat. 
  Hist., 
  vol. 
  iii, 
  Mollusca, 
  pp. 
  128, 
  

   327, 
  441). 
  The 
  group, 
  comprising 
  ten 
  species, 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  confined 
  

   to 
  the 
  Society 
  and 
  Cook 
  Islands, 
  though 
  fratercula 
  has 
  been 
  quoted 
  

   from 
  Gambler 
  Island 
  and 
  Paumotu, 
  and 
  the 
  Marquesas 
  have 
  been 
  

   given 
  as 
  the 
  habitat 
  of 
  Jacquinoti, 
  which, 
  however, 
  Garrett 
  is 
  " 
  inclined 
  

   to 
  believe 
  " 
  inhabits 
  the 
  Austral 
  Ishinds. 
  

  

  Mention 
  must 
  here 
  be 
  made 
  of 
  Helix 
  oceanica, 
  Le 
  Guill., 
  a 
  species 
  

   included 
  by 
  some 
  writers 
  in 
  this 
  genus. 
  Described 
  in 
  1842 
  (Pev. 
  

   Zool., 
  p. 
  140), 
  it 
  has 
  never 
  been 
  figured. 
  Pfeiifer 
  copied 
  the 
  descrip- 
  

   tion 
  in 
  Mon. 
  Hel., 
  vol. 
  i, 
  p. 
  120, 
  but 
  adds 
  nothing 
  in 
  the 
  subsequent 
  

   volumes. 
  Gould, 
  in 
  the 
  " 
  Otia 
  ", 
  quotes 
  it 
  as 
  synonym 
  of 
  the 
  all- 
  

   embracing 
  H. 
  bursatella 
  (in 
  which 
  case 
  Le 
  Guillou's 
  name 
  would 
  have 
  

   priority 
  ;) 
  from 
  a 
  specimen 
  in 
  the 
  Jardin 
  des 
  Plantes. 
  Pease 
  quotes 
  it 
  

   in 
  P.Z.S., 
  1871, 
  remarking 
  that 
  no 
  mention 
  is 
  made 
  of 
  any 
  peristomatal 
  

   lamellae. 
  In 
  Psetel 
  it 
  appears 
  as 
  a 
  Goniodiscus. 
  Fischer 
  and 
  others 
  

   make 
  it 
  a 
  Patula, 
  and 
  so 
  on. 
  Through 
  the 
  kindness 
  of 
  Dr. 
  L. 
  Germain 
  

   the 
  writer 
  was 
  able 
  to 
  inspect 
  a 
  specimen 
  so 
  named 
  in 
  the 
  Paris 
  

   Museum 
  ; 
  it 
  proved 
  to 
  be 
  Jacquinoti, 
  Pfr. 
  Mons. 
  Dautzenberg 
  

   obligingly 
  submitted 
  a 
  specimen 
  from 
  the 
  collection 
  of 
  Mons. 
  Crosse 
  ; 
  

   it 
  turned 
  out 
  to 
  be 
  bursatella, 
  Gld. 
  As 
  the 
  description 
  is 
  meagre, 
  

   as 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  figure, 
  and 
  as 
  there 
  is 
  apparently 
  no 
  authentic 
  specimen, 
  

   it 
  is 
  suggested 
  that 
  Helix 
  oceanica, 
  Le 
  Guill., 
  may 
  safely 
  be 
  relegated 
  

   to 
  the 
  limbo 
  of 
  ' 
  species 
  incognitse 
  '. 
  

  

  