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BRITISH CARBONIFEROUS BRACHIOPODA. 



species of Bhynchonella found in the Carboniferous system, by the compression or exca- 

 vation of the lateral portions of its beaks, which give to the shell that peculiar sub-trigonal 

 or cuneiform appearance which no doubt prompted the specific designation of angulata, 

 and at a later period that of excavata, by Professor Phillips. The ribs are likewise 

 characteristic of the species, but not to such an extent as the lateral compressions of the 

 beaks. 



Bit. angulata bears some resemblance to certain individuals of the Silurian Bit. cuneata 

 of Dalman, but from which it may be distinguished by a difference in the character of its 

 ribs. B. lateralis of Sowerby has been (by some authors) added to the synonyms of 

 angulata; but if we are to judge from the description and figure published in the 

 ' Mineral Conchology' (tab. lxxxiii, fig. 1), the identification must be looked upon as 

 uncertain, for the Sowerby representation does not exhibit those flattened or depressed 

 spaces on either side of the be^ks which are observable in the Linnean species ; and this 

 view is further strengthened by Sowerby's own remark, that " Ter. lateralis is probably a 

 variety of B.pugnus, although it has only three plaits" (' M. C.,' vol. v, p. 155). 1 In any 

 case, whether B. lateralis be or not a synonym of the Linnean species, or a variety of 

 B. pugnus, the name will require to be erased from the nomenclature, on account of 

 Linnseus's species, as well as that of Martin, claiming priority of date over the Sowerby 

 one. I must also differ with the statement made by Professor De Koninck, at p. 285 of 

 his excellent work on the ' Carboniferous Fossils of Belgium/ that Bruguiere has figured 

 the species in the ' Encyclopedic methodique,' or that it is the same as the one to which 

 Lamarck gave the name of T. plicata at a later period ; for although Bruguiere's repre- 

 sentation ('Ency. meth., pi. ccxliii, fig. 11, and pi. ccxli, fig. 1, 1789) might bear a 

 somewhat obscure resemblance to certain examples of B. angulata, it represents a much 

 larger shell, with a beak strongly incurved, and very different to that of Linnaeus. Besides, 

 I believe that Bruguiere's figure represents a liasic shell found in the north of Italy, and 

 the same as that termed Terebratula plicata by Lamarck, at p. 254 of the sixth vol. of 

 his work, and wherein he refers to the figure of Bruguiere above quoted. When writing 

 my report on Lamarck's Fossil Terebratulae, which was published in the fifth vol. of the 

 'Annals and Mag. of Natural History' (pi. xix, fig. 39, 1850), I was able to draw the 

 original specimen upon which the author had founded his species. I am therefore 



1 To my regret the original example could no longer be found in the Sowerby collection, but I have 

 reproduced the original representation (PI. xxv, fig. 14), and here append the description taken from 

 p. 189 of vol. i of the ' Mineral Conchology,' so that every one may form his own opinion. 



" Spec. Char. Oval, broader than long, gibbous ; middle of the trout much elevated, with three deep, 

 but short plaits ; sides with two plaits each, much below the middle. 



" The three plaits iu the middle of the imperforated valve, though not continued far into the shell, 

 produce three very deep angular notches, which are filled by as many sharp teeth on the edge of the other 

 valve, which is not so much plaited, and is altogether flatter. The length of the edge between the central 

 plaits and the lateral ones is remarkable. This is found in the limestone rock near Dublin, and in the 

 black rock near Cork. The stone is generally a compact darkish marble, fetid when scraped." 



