4, THE FADNA OF THE NEOOOMIAN. 



Guard tolerably long (the best preserved specimen measures 60 mm. in length), 

 inflated at the posterior end, tapering or cylindrical towards the anterior end ; 

 posterior end slightly accuminate and pointed. Ventral canal very short. Cross 

 sections almost circular. Apical line straight and central. 



Locality and stratigrapUcal posifiow.— Sonari hill, Khattan, Mazdr Drik, Sembar 

 pass, Tal Ohotiali, Dunghdn mountain ; belemnite shales. 



Bemarks. — This species is characterized by its circular cross section, the short- 

 ness of the ventral canal, and the spherical posterior end, provided with a short 

 point. In these features the specimens from Baluchistdn agree so well with those 

 from southern France that there is not the slightest doubt as to their identity. 



This species is a little less common than Belemnitea subfusiformis and 

 Belemnites dilatatus, and with one exception only all the specimens under observation 

 are very badly preserved. 



Belemnites subptisipormis, Raspail, plate I, figs. 4-4a, 5-5a, 6-6«, 7-7S, 8-8a, 

 9-9a, 10-lOa, 11-11», 12-12a, 13-13a, ]4-14a. 



1829. Belemnites subfusiformis, Baspail, Hist. Nat. des. Bdlemn., p. 55, pi. 8, fig. 93. 



This is the most common species in the Baluchistdn belemnite shales, but not 

 one of the specimens is complete; it is mostly found in fragments of a few centi- 

 metres in length, the longest being 63 mm., or, if the specimen described as var. 

 BttlucMstanensis really represents a variety of this species, the longest fragment 

 measures 83 mm. without a trace of the alveolar cavity being visible. 



The guard is elongated and slender, the diameter in the two longest fragments 

 being about ^ of their length. The under part of the guard is cylindrical and by 

 tapering slowly in the posterior direction its posterior end becomes sharply accumi- 

 nate. The ventral canal is short and narrow, its edges are rounded. The cross-sec- 

 tion is circular ; the apical, canal straight, slightly eccentric, and nearer the ventral 

 side. The alveolar cavity is slightly eccentric and narrow, but comparatively long. 



A double dorso-lateral furrow is always distinctly visible in the better preserved 

 specimens. This species frequently exhibits a peculiarity which has been previous- 

 ly noticed in other species, — for instance, Belemnites latus, Bl., or Belemnites bipar- 

 tiivs, Bl. The surface of the guard presents a curious perforated appearance. In the 

 Baluchistan specimens these perforations prove to be minute elliptical holes, barely 

 exceeding 1 mm. in length, the longitudinal axis of which generally runs in antero- 

 posterior direction ; in some cases it deviates slightly, but I never observed any 

 of the holes transversely directed. These holes are very shallow and are only 

 found on the superficial layer of the guard ; I have never observed them in any of 

 the previous layers. As they cover the whole surface very evenly, and as they are 

 always separated from each other by a distance of not less than their own length, 

 and usually more, the appearance of a specimen covered with these holes is rather 

 peculiar. When not filled out with matrix the holes are perfectly empty, and it is 

 therefore extremely diflGicult to imagine to wh^t agency their origin must be attri- 

 buted. Of course the action of boring mollusca or annelids seems to give the most 



