112 EOCENE MOLLUSCA. 



others occur principally in the West Indies and South America. The two species 

 before mentioned, V. elegans (Sow.), and V. depressa (Desh.), are, I believe, the only 

 fossil species hitherto described. 



No. 64. Velletia elegans. Sowerby. Tab. XIV, fig. 2 a — d. 



Ancylus elegans. Sow. 1826. Min. Con., vol. vi, p. 64, t. 533. 



— — Lyell and Murch. 1829. Sur les depots, &c. du Cantal. 



— — Bouillet. 1836. Cat. des coq. foss. de l'Auvergne. 



A. testa convexd, subconicd, radiatim subtilissime striata ; vertice obliquo, excentrico, 

 sub-maryinali : aperturd lonyitudinali, ob-ovali. 



This elegant shell, for the discovery of which we are indebted to Sir Charles Lyell, 

 is convex and subcorneal, with an oblique excentric vertex, placed near the posterior 

 extremity. The surface, under a high magnifying power, presents exceedingly fine 

 striae, radiating from the vertex towards the margin ; the mucro is frequently eroded. 

 The aperture is longitudinal and obovate, the wider part being the anterior extremity. 



The shell, in this species, is not so oblong and compressed as in the recent V. 

 lacustris, and the vertex is nearer the margin. In the French species, V. depressa, 

 (Desh.) the shell is more depressed, the anterior extremity is wider, the posterior 

 extremity is narrower, and the vertex is more nearly central. 



Size. — Elevation rather more than l-20th of an inch; length rather more than 

 3-20ths ; greatest width 2-20ths. 



Localities. — Hordwell. French .- Veaurs in the Cantal. 



Family — Atjrtculid,e. 

 Genus 16th. Melampus. Montfort. 



Voluta, (sp.,) Linn. 



Melampus, Mont/., 1810; Beck, 1837; Gray, 1840. 



Conovulus, Lam., 1812; Cuvier, 1817; Beck, 1837. 



Auricula, (sp.,) Lam. 



Alexia, Leach, 1819 



Conotula, Fe'russ., 1819. 



Pedipes, (sec. C.,) Blainville, 1825. 



Melampus, Lowe, 1832. 



Conovulum, G. Sowerby, jun., 1841. 



Rhodostoma and Melampus, Swain, 1840. 



Gen. Char. — Shell oval or elongate, sub-cylindrical ; generally smooth, and with a 

 short conoidal spire : aperture rather long and narrow; peritreme continuous, with two 



