447 



courtesy of Mr. W. Howchin, the Curator of the Tate Museum 

 in the University of Adelaide, I have examined the types of 

 these and find they all belong to this section. 



Comparison of H . 'punctata with those most nearly allied 

 to it establishes its claim as an independent species. B. . tenuis^ 

 Tate, has 24 ribs instead of 12, and a more pronounced 

 shoulder which is further from the suture. II . pulligera, 

 Tate, is much larger, has 29 ribs, a more angulated shoulder, 

 and a much more prominent pullus, the sutures of which are 

 hidden by the first spire whorl. H. pachycheila., Tate, is 

 more pyriform, has 15 ribs, which are much stouter, and more 

 prominent, and has marginate sutures. //. ahhreviata, Tate, 

 has 24 ribs, a less prominent shoulder, with a sloping area 

 between this and the suture, and is much more contracted 

 anteriorly. 



Fischer, in his "Manuel de Conchyliologie," 1887, p. 601, 

 gives the Eocene period as that of the Eorithara, as indicated, 

 indeed, b}^ its name. Cossmann's localities are Eocene, two 

 species from the Paris Basin, and several species in Australia 

 (all these are Tate's) ; Oligocene, one probable species. 



When I described my novelty I noted the interesting 

 discovery of a new species of the genus Harpa, which Tryon 

 referred to as "a completed genus, no new forms rewarding 

 the industry of modern investigators and explorers." But 

 the interest is greatly augmented by the recognition that it 

 does not belong to the same section of Harpa as any other 

 known recent species, but without doubt to the section 

 Eocithara, which flourished in the Eocene period, the earliest 

 of Tertiary times. Further, that it is — as far as I can gather 

 — the only known living representative of this section. Two 

 other points of interest are noteworthy. That here in Aus- 

 tralia, where nine out of a possible dozen species of fossil 

 Eocithara are found, the one known living species of this 

 section should occur. And also that all the fossils which 

 certainly pertain to this section are attributed to the Eocene 

 period, the oldest of the Tertiaries; that in the Oligocene, the 

 next oldest, there should be but one described species, and 

 that only probable ; that none should have been yet taken from 

 the Miocene, Pliocene, or Pleistocene, and yet an Eocithara^ 

 certainly congeneric and even closely allied specifically, should 

 be living in our South Australian seas. 



Jos. C. Verco. 



