3°3 



A REVISION OF THE TEXTILE CONES, 

 WITH DESCRIPTION OF C. CHOLMONDELEYI, N. SP. 



By JAMES COSMO MELVILL, M.A., F.L.S. 



(Read before the Society, December 13th, 1899). 



It is now nearly fifteen years ago since I essayed a tentative grouping 

 and revision 1 of that somewhat isolated and peculiar section of Conus, 

 called Cylinder by Denis de Montfort, 1810 ; Textilia by Swainson, 

 1840; and exactly corresponding to the seventeenth section Texti 

 of the genus, proposed by Weinkauff. 



This paper being now out of print, and several modifications and 

 alterations being considered essential, I deem no apology necessary 

 for again traversing the subject, albeit the whole matter lies at first 

 sight in so small a compass. For indeed, since 1885, no new form 

 of Textile Cone has been described until now, C. cholmondeleyi sp. 

 nov. being figured in this article. 



So recently as a fortnight ago Mr. Robert Standen and I described 

 a new Textile Cone, 2 allied in form to C. gloria maris Chem., and 

 in disposition of marking to C. episcopus Hwass, or C. aulicus L. It 

 is a fine new form dredged at 45 fathoms by Mr. F. W. Townsend, 

 during the repairing of the Eastern Telegraph Co.'s submarine cable, 

 about 125 miles W.S.W. of Bombay. But I am inclined now to 

 place this beautiful species (C. clytospira M. & S.) in the section 

 Leptoconus, as allied perhaps most nearly to C. acuminatus Brug. It 

 is noteworthy that Paetel places this last in the Textile group. Indeed 

 the disposition of marking in several of this section is very similar to 

 the true Cylindri, but the channelled upper whorls, light build, and 

 very deep sutural excavation of the last whorl, all which distinctive 

 features are present in C. clytospira, prompt me to change an opinion 

 which was at first based on the reticulate pattern and form alone. 

 C. amadis Chem. may be taken as a good type of the Leptoconi ; its 

 light substance, deep sutural excavation, channelled upper whorls, 

 are all typical, and I fancy the general verdict will be that the C. clyto- 

 spira is best placed here, although in form there is much similarity 

 between it and C. gloria maris Chem. 



To revert to the Textilia proper ; forty-five forms (species or varie- 

 ties) are here enumerated, and of these all, excepting four, are 



1 Mem. and P roc. Manchester Soc. (3), vol. 10, p. 49, 1S85 (1887). 

 3 Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. (7), vol. 4, pp. 461-463, 1899. 



