400 T. Davidson — Tertiary BracMopoda. 



seek for better examples of this species, as well as of the so-termed 

 T. miocenica and T. anceps, in order that their specific claims may be 

 accurately determined. 



Sig. Sequenza is now of opinion that his T. Lyelliana is a synonym 

 of T. minor, and that his T. Benoitiana will require to be added to the 

 synonyms of T. sphenoidea. 



24. Terebratula rJiomboidea (Biondi), PI. XIX., Fig. 8. Memoria 

 prima su alcune specie Malacologiche Siciliane. Atti dell' Accademia 

 Gioenia di Scienze Naturali di Catania, second series, vol. x., p. 8, 

 pi. iii., figs. 2 and 3, 1855. 



I have never seen a specimen of this species, and consequently 

 cannot discuss its specific claims. I have reproduced one of Sig. 

 Biondi's figures. The shell is ovate, smooth, and biplicated ; about 

 fourteen lines in length by ten in width, and was found by Sig. 

 Biondi at Cape Pachino, in Sicily, and in beds that have been referred 

 to the Eocene period. 



25. Terebratula caput-serpentis (Linne), PL XIX., Fig. 19. 



Out of mere variations in shape and age of this variable shell, 

 many so-termed distinct species have been fabricated ; but the 

 makers of these species have generally failed in establishing any 

 really distinctive characters. After a lengthened examination of a 

 number of specimens, I am almost disposed to believe that T. caput- 

 serpentis has continued to exist throughout the entire Tertiary period, 

 and it is now a common shell in many seas. It is even probable that 

 its ancestors lived during the Cretaceous period. Anyhow it occurs 

 in the Lower Miocene at Dego ; in the Middle Miocene at Grangia 

 and Gassino, in the HiUs of Turin ; in the Upper Miocene at Starzano 

 (Tortonese) ; Marmorito (Proviace of Asti), etc., in Tuscany. It 

 abounds in the older and newer Pliocene of various parts of Italy ; 

 in Calabria, Sicily, etc. It is common also in the Quaternary deposits 

 of the same kingdom, in the south of France, at Nice, Gibraltar, etc. 

 Some Italian Eocene specimens, as well as some from Biarritz, seem 

 to me undistinguishable from T. caput-serpentis. 



26. Terehratulina Tauriniensis (Sequenza), PI. XIX., Fig. 20, 20a. 

 Piedmontese Brachiopoda, annali dell' Accademia degli aspirant! di 

 Napoli, third series, vol. vi., pi. iii, figs. 1, la, 1866. 



I have seen only one example of this minute shell, and cannot 

 consequently discuss its specific claims. It may very possibly be no 

 more than a young stage of T. caput-serpentis. Sig. Sequenza figured 

 a dorsal valve only, but since then Sig. Eovasenda has found a com- 

 plete specimen, which I have figured in my plate. It occurs in the 

 Middle Miocene of Gassino, a locality at three hours distance from 

 Turin. 



27. Terehratulina striatula (Sow. ?) PL XIX., Fig. 21, 21a. 

 Many of the specimens obtained by Sig. Meneghini and M. Bayan 



from the Eocene beds in the north of Italy can scarcely be dis- 

 tinguished from some of our English examples of T. striatula. It is 

 variable in shape, some specimens being shorter and broader than 

 others. The dorsal valve is usually uniformly convex, but a slight 

 median depression towards the front is also sometimes present in speci- 



