420 On the affinities of Galathea [May* 



graphed plate, as though they were all different names of the same 

 family. Now to analyze the sentence : 



Hitivira I suppose to be a corrupt writing of iff^^T hridivtra l noble 

 in heart,' equivalent to the Pehlevi word beh translated by " excellent." — 

 Airdna cha paramesivara, and the supreme lord of Airtin or Persia, 

 may be read (perhaps better) Air an va Pdrsesivara, the lord of Iran and 

 JFars. For the name, we have severally phd,cha, va, gha, or Jid ! followed 

 by liitigdn or hitikhdn ; and lastly devajanita, as before explained. 



I am quite at a loss to find owners for such names, and although this 

 is the third time I have alluded to this coin, gaining little by little 

 each time, still I fear we have much to learn before we can unravel its 

 entire history. For the present I leave unnoticed the Pehlevi legend, 

 merely placing under view in the annexed plate, corresponding passages 

 from regular Sassanian coins, which being titles, will soon lead to a 

 knowledge of their alphabet and meaning. 



III. — Note on the affinities of Galathea of Lamarck ( Potamophila 



qfSoiverbyJ, a Genus of Fluviatile Testacea. By W. H. Benson, 



Esq. Bengal Civil Service. 



Much misapprehension appears to exist with regard to the proper 

 jocation of the Fluviatile bivalve genus Galathea of Lamarck. That 

 distinguished author placed the shell among his " Conques Fluviatiles," 

 and considered it to be nearly allied to Cyrena, referring merely to the 

 teeth as a sufficiently distinguishing character. Rang, more unaccount- 

 ably, either on a cursory examination of the shell only, or of its description 

 and without reference to the indications of the characters of its inhabi- 

 tant, which the testaceous covering exhibits, says that it would perhaps be 

 advisable to unite it to Cyrena. It is true that this writer includes not 

 only the Conchce and Nymphacece, but also the Mactracece, Cardiacece, 

 and Lithophagi in one overgrown section, which he denominates 

 " Conchacees," but this attempt at generalization does not, in any wise, 

 absolve him from the charge of mistaking the place of the genus in 

 question in the family, which he has thought fit to constitute. The 

 fortuitous acquisition of a specimen of this still rather rare shell enables 

 me to offer some observations concerning it, which may serve to illustrate 

 its true affinities, and may not only tend to confirm Lamarck's separa- 

 tion of it from Cyrena, but likewise shew the propriety of its location 

 in a different family from that which he classed it. 



The remaining genera of Lamarck's Conchce, whether marine or 

 fluviatile, consisting of Cyrena (including the more modern genus 

 Corbicula) Cyclas, Cyprina, Cytherea, fyc, possess the ligament and 

 siphons on the longer side, or that which occupies the dorsal aspect of 



