186 rROCEEDIXGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [June 15, 



Note on the Fossil Cypridce from Ndgpur. 

 By T. Eupekt Joxes, Esq., E.G.S. 



In the Trans. Geol. Soc. 2 ser. vol. v., Mr. Sowerby lias described 

 (in the " Explanation of the Plates") two species of Cypris from the 

 fossiliferous chert of the Sichel Hills ; namely Cypris cylindrica 

 (pp. cit. pi. 47. fig. 2), and C. subglobosa (fig. 3). These occur 

 more especially between Munoor and Nutnoor in company with 

 Unio ; and near Nutnoor in vast numbers, associated with abun- 

 dance of Gyrogonites and some Limnei. At Chickni also, nearer to 

 Nagpur, they occur with Melania, Paludince, and Limnei. I have 

 examined the original specimens presented by Dr. Malcolmson to 

 the Geological Society, and have not been able to detect among 

 them clear evidences of any other species of Entomostraca. 



The specimens procured by the Rev. Messrs. Hislop and Hunter 

 from the neighbourhood of Nagpur comprise a large variety of 

 Entomostraca, and frequently the carapaces are perfectly pre- 

 served, — a condition very rare in the materials which Mr. Sowerby 

 examined. I have not, however, seen from jNTagpur any rock so full 

 of these little fossils as some of the chert from near JNutnoor is. 



1. Cypris cylindrica, Sow. — This appears to be tolerably abun- 

 dant in the freshwater deposits near Nagpur. The largest indi- 

 vidual I have met with is about ^-th inch in length ; nor have I 

 seen larger ones in the chert from the Sichel Hills. Sowerby's 

 figure indicates -1-th inch for the size ; but perhaps this may have 

 arisen from an error of the engraver. Minute individuals also 

 occur ; also a markedly curved specimen, constituting perhaps a 

 variety. C. cylindrica has living representatives in the fresh waters 

 of JSTagpur. See Dr. Baird's description of recent Entomostraca 

 from JNagpur in the Zool. Proc. 1859. 



2. Cypris subglobosa, Sow., is very abundant among the materials 

 submitted to me by Mr. Hislop. Ordinarily the specimens have a 

 length of about y^th inch, with a diameter of ^\,th ; and the smallest 

 are about -^th inch long. A few individuals differ from the com- 

 mon form in their proportions ; one being y^th inch long, by ^-th 

 thick, and has the extremities nearly equally acute : this is pro- 

 bably a variety. The largest C. subglobosa which I have seen was 

 collected by Mr. Hislop ; it is -^-th inch long, y^th high, and yL-th 

 thick. 



Most of the individuals are rather more strongly arched, or even 

 angular, on the back, than Sowerby's figured specimen, and the 

 anterior extremity is more distinctly compressed. The ornament, 

 appearing under a pocket-lens to consist of punctate marks, is really 

 a fine reticulation, which passes into wrinkles on the ventral region. 



C. subglobosa belongs to H. de Saussure's subgenus Chlamydo- 

 iheca, characterized by a doubled margin at the extremities of the 

 valves. The figures given by Dr. Baird in the Zoological Society's 

 Illustrated Proceedings of the variety of this species now living in 

 ponds of Nagpur well represent this feature. As Dr. Baird's re- 

 cent specimens differ from the fossil forms in having a less gibbous 



