Maryland Geological Survey 415 



Type. — Murex babylonius Linne. 



" The name Turns, proposed by Bumphius, and used in the same sense 

 by Midler, Argenville, and other polynomial writers, was first used 

 binomially in the anonymous Museum Calonnianum, where the names are 

 all nude; but in a copy in my possession, under Turris babylonia, ' Murex 

 babylonius Lin.' is written in Humphrey's handwriting. Cossmann 

 is mistaken in supposing that Turris in this work is used to indicate Tur- 

 ritella Lamarck; that genus is called Terebra by the anonymous author. 

 In the following year the genus was again adopted for the same type of 

 shell in the Museum Boltenianum. In this work, of twenty-two species 

 cited under Turris, three are nude names; of the nineteen remaining, 

 which are furnished with references, seventeen are Pleuroioma, twelve of 

 which are referable to Murex babylonius (L.) Gmelin, one to M. javanus 

 Gmelin, and four to P. auriculifera Lamarck. The other two references 

 are to a pleurotomatiform Stromb, the Strombus vittatus Linne. The 

 first species and type is T. babylonius. 



" It is always regrettable to part with an old and familiar name, but in 

 the present case, if the rules of nomenclature be followed, there is abso- 

 lutely no escape from the conclusion above indicated. We can only regret 

 that Lamarck disregarded a century of usage and tradition when he 

 adopted the new name Plewotoma in place of the familiar old one Turris." 

 — Dall, 1909. 



Shell fusiform : body whorl of nearly equal length with the spire ;. colu- 

 mellar margin smooth : siphonal notch narrow and deep, placed some dis- 

 tance in front of the suture line ; anterior canal long and straight. 



The genus has been in existence since the Cretaceous and is present 

 to-day in nearly all the warm seas. 



A. Altitude of adult shell not exceeding 10 mm Turris terramaria, 



B. Altitude of adult shell exceeding 10 mm. 



1. Macroscopic spiral sculpture not restricted to the base of the body 



and the pillar. 



a. Spirals very fine and regular in size and spacing, exceeding 



15 in number upon the penultima Turris sedesclara 



b. Spirals faint and irregular in size and spacing, not exceding 



15 in number upon the penultima Turris welleri 



2. Macroscopic spiral sculpture restricted to the base of the body and 



the pillar Turris inonmouthensis 



