THE WEST AMEEICAN SCIENTIST. 79 



San Diego. Cooper. 



The above synon3my shows that the two species named C. Cooperi, that of Mr. 

 Sanderson Smith has priority, and consequently the Californian species is the one 

 which must take a new name instead of the New York form. Through a failure 

 to observe this, Dr. Cooper fell into the error of renaming C. Cooperi (New York) 

 as C. Smithii (Proc. Phil. Acad. Nat. Sci. 1872, p. 154). 



Caecum orcutti, Dall, n. s. 



Shell small, stout, smooth, but not polished, light warm brown in color and 

 without sculpture, except very slight line> of growth. Shell slightly curved, the 

 anterior aperture very oblique, about at right angles to the plane of the diameter 

 of the plug, the superior margin being the anterior; plug glandiform, smooth, 

 rounded without mucro; operculum brown, thin, smooth. Lon. of shell, 2.00; 

 diameter 0, To™"*. 



San Diego, Orcutt, abundant under stones. 



This is the smallest and tne only smooth Californian species of the genus. [Dall. 



We now come to a family of mostly minute shells, the Turbonillidae. The 

 shells are white, slender, elongated, many-whorled, and mostly longitudinally rib- 

 bed or spirally striate. The odostomias and turbonillas, of this family, are usually 

 found on the backs of abalone shells, in crevices of rocks, or in similar situations. 

 Pyramidellidae is a closely related family, containing Obeliscus variegatus, a very 

 rare, smooth shell, an inch long or less, which resembles in general appearance the 

 commoner Myurella simplex. It differs from Myurella, however, by the 

 presence of a prominent tooth on the columella. I have found only a few 

 water- worn shells of this interesting species at San Diego. 



The Litorinidae inhabit the sea, brakish or fresh-water, some being amphibious. 

 They are mostly littoral, feeding on algae. The periwinkles or litorinas, which be- 

 long to this family, are found on the sea-shore in all parts of the world. The shell 

 of litoriha is turbinated, thick pointed, and few-whorled. Litorina planaxis is the 

 more common kind at San Diego and is more globular, larger an 1 stouter than our 

 other species, L. scutulata, which latter is darker in color and less variable in its 

 markings. The lacunas have thin turbinated shells and our species are quite 

 small. In the spring they are often found abundant on sea grass or elsewhere 

 near the shore. Lacuna variegata and L. unifasciata are the two species known to 

 me at San Diego, and differ but slightly from each other. 



[Correspondence] 



A QUERY. 



Are homed toads harmless? I have always supposed so, but a well known and 

 prominent physician informs me that the fetid breath of a horned toad, if inhaled, 

 is very poisonous, and if medical aid is not speedily obtained, may prove fatal. 

 Will some one who knows by actual observation, answer the above query through 

 the columns of the West American Scientist. G. 



