32 EOCENE MOLLUSCA. 



B. sepioidea, and do not correspond with the specific description given by M. Deshayes. 

 Through the kindness of Mr. Sowerby I have had an opportunity of examining the 

 specimen from which his figure was taken, and it is unquestionably a B. sepioidea ; 

 the peculiar form of the rostrum being caused by the fracture of the posterior extremity, 

 and the abrasion of the lower part of the outer layers. The present species is well 

 defined by M. Deshayes ; and as I have a series of specimens in different stages of 

 growth in which the distinctions are preserved, I do not hesitate to retain it. 



The rostrum is short, thick, slightly arched, and very broad at the superior extremity ; 

 on the dorsal surface, at the posterior extremity, it is compressed, and presents a 

 cutting edge for about one half of the length ; the superior extremity is marked by a 

 broad depression extending to the callus. The ventral plate is less elliptical, and the 

 denticulations less prominent, than in B. sepioidea. The callus is nearly perpen- 

 dicular to the axis of the rostrum, and enlarges rapidly, owing to the greater width of 

 the terminal cavity. 



The specimen figured in Mr. Dixon's work, under the name B. Owenii, appears to 

 belong to this species. Mr. Sowerby was probably induced, by the synonyms quoted 

 by M. Deshayes, to consider the Sepia Cuvieri of that author as identical with the 

 Belopfere de Cuvier of De Blainville ; and as the specimen before him could not 

 be referred to that species, he proposed the species B. Owenii for its reception. The 

 specific name Cuvieri, however, having been improperly used by MM. d'Orbigny and 

 Voltz for the B. sepioidea of De Blainville, must now be retained for, the present 

 species, to which it was applied by M. Deshayes, and it will consequently supersede 

 the name Owenii proposed by Mr. Sowerby. M. Nyst cites for his specimens 

 M. Deshayes's description of B. Cuvieri, and has, in fact, copied the figures given by 

 that author. I have therefore considered them as identical. 



Hitherto, I believe, B. Cuvieri has been found, in England, only at Bracklesham 

 Bay, where it is not by any means common. The French localities quoted by 

 M. Deshayes are Grignon, Courtagnon, Parnes (upper cal. gross.). M. Nyst gives 

 the sandy beds at Boitsfort, Assche, Jette, Foret, Uccle, and Ghent, as the Belgian 

 localities. 



The length of the rostrum is '3 inch, and its breadth at the superior extremity 

 •3 inch. 



No. 3. Belosepia brevispina. Sowerby. Tab. 1, fig. 2 a — c. 



Belosepia brevispina ; /. D. C. Smuerby. 1849. Dixon's Geol. Hist., &c, p. 109, tab. 9, fig. 14. 



B. rostro per-brevi, crasso, acuto, in aspeclum ventralem valde convexo et regulariter 

 arcuaio ; lamina ventrali profunda sulcata, vix denticulatd ; callo dorsali in margine 

 inferiori comprcsso, sursum verge// li. 



