CYPR^EA (EROSARIA) SPURCA. 305 



thickened, marginate; aperture expanded below, outer lip nearly straight; teeth 

 prominent, coarser and less numerous than in G. pyrum or G. lurida. 



Dimensions. — L. 30—3 4- mm. B. 18-20 mm. (of fossil specimen : L. 17 mm. 



B. 11 mm.). 



Distribution. — Recent : western coast of Spain, Cape Verde Isles, Canaries, 

 Ascension, St. Helena, Morocco. Mediterranean — Balearic Isles, Corsica, Naples, 

 Sicily, Algeria, Tunis, Tripoli, Egypt, iEgean, Syrian coast. West Indies, 

 Florida, Pernambuco. 



Fossil : Kilbride, co. Wicklow. Monte Mario, Cyprus, Palermo. 



Remarks. — The history of this unique fossil is rather interesting. Originally 

 discovered by Captain (afterwards Sir Henry) James, it was described in 1846 

 by him and by Edward Forbes as Gyprsea sp. For many years it has remained 

 in the Jermyn Street collection without any definite specific name. In 1865 

 it was referred by Messrs. Huxley and Etheridge to the Mediterranean form 



C. lurida, Linne, and afterwards by Alfred Bell to G. pyrum, Gmelin. Hesitating 

 which of these competent authorities to follow, I wrote to my good friend the 

 Marchese di Monterosato, who has so often and so Avillingly rendered me similar 

 assistance, asking him to send me some typical specimens of both these species 

 for comparison, which he was kind enough to do ; but he enclosed with them an 

 example of C. spurca, and it was the latter species with which our fossil seemed 

 most nearly to correspond. The two shells are not absolutely the same, however, 

 and my identification may possibly need reconsideration. 



G. spurca seems to be specially characterised by its form and the prominent 

 and rather coarse sculpture of both sides of the aperture. It has been reported 

 as a fossil from Monte Mario by Sign. Cerulli-Irelli, from Cyprus by Gaudry, 

 and as sub-fossil from Palermo by Philippi, but not, so far as I know, from any 

 other locality, either British or foreign, although it now occurs living in all parts 

 of the Mediterranean. 



Forbes, indeed, suggested that the Wicklow specimen was a recent one, as 

 it had a very fresh appearance. It was said to have been found, however, in a 

 marine deposit, and many of the fossils from the same region are of a similarly 

 fresh and unworn character. He considered it desirable, moreover, to include it 

 in his list of Irish fossils, and as it still appears exhibited among them in the 

 Jermyn Street galleries I follow his example. In any case it suggests the 

 existence of marine currents from the south at a certain stage or stages of the 

 geological history, to which also the existence of so many Lusitanian species in 

 the Pleistocene deposits of the Christiania fiord before alluded to may also have 

 been due. 



