390 Mr. Cosmo Melvill on the 



what is an unique occurrence in the genus, a thick white 

 band below the sutures, producing at regular intervals a. 

 strong, short white spine. This is allied in other ways to 

 L. prismaticus (Mart.), whose iridescent epidermis is dis- 

 cussed in another place. The ancient and widely-spread 

 L. turritus (Gmel.), of brick-dust colour, only slightly 

 noduled, and decorated with regular transverse lines, affords 

 many links of kinship with L. brevicaudatus (Reeve), an 

 elegant shell with extremely short beak, and transverse 

 brown-lined painting, showing, however, a marked transition 

 through L. Syracusanus (L.), (formerly i^?/^?/^'), and L.filosus 

 (Gmel), to one of the most conspicuous of the genus, L. 

 infundibuluni (Gmel.) Here the acme of the species with 

 whitish ground colour and red varied transverse lines seems 

 to be attained. In close proximity to this must be placed 

 the most fusoid of the group, L. lancea (Gmel.), a shell with 

 a very prolonged canal, and all the external attributes of a 

 Fusus of the " Coins'' section, though its texture and ribbing 

 are markedly Latiroid, let alone the presence of columellar 

 plaits, while L. angustus (Sm.), and Cayohuesonicus (Sowb.),, 

 (fig. 2.), are much like infundibuluni in miniature. A 

 natural sequence now brings us to three or four species from 

 the Western Coast of N. America, all much alike : L. 

 castaneus (Reeve) being the type. Heavy shells are they,, 

 with more or less prolonged canal, and a peculiar obliquity 

 or rather sinuosity of the outer lip, and more or less obscure 

 transverse ribbing, L. castaneus being smoother than vari- 

 cosus and acuminattis, and standing next to L. nodatus 

 (Martyn), that large and beautiful species, so conspicuous for 

 its pink or pale violet mouth, and fawn coloured epidermis, 

 smooth with rounded concentric nodules. The Fasciolaria 

 lignaria L. I place by this, a thinner shell it is true, but 

 with, to some extent, the same characters ; the canal in this 

 species is similar to the L. polygonus (Gm.) and its allies,, 

 all of which come next. This shell (^polygonus) is perhaps 



