128 EOCENE MOLLUSCA. 



No. 71*. Cypr^a oviformis. Sowerby. Tab. XVI, f. \a — i. 



Cype^ea ovifoemis, Sow. 1812. Min. Con., vol. i, p. 17, t. 4, 3 lower fig. 



— — Defr. 1826. Diet, des Sci. nat., vol. xliii, p. 40. 



Ovulum betusum, Sow. 1834. (Wetherell on Hampstead Heath Well,) Geol. Trans., 2d. Series, 

 vol. v, p. 136, t. 8, fig. 19. 

 Non Cypejea ovifoemis, Galeotti. 1837. M6m. sur la const, geog. &c. de Brab., p, 183, No. 1 2. 



C. testa sub-globosd, antice attenuatd, lavi : aperturd postice elongatd,jlexuosd, angus- 

 tissimd, antice latiori, extremitatibus canaliculatd, ad basin emarginatd ; labro postice et in 

 medio compresso et incrassato, antice acuto, expanso, extus marginato, intus regulariter 

 dentato ; labio antice compresso, in callum fastigiosum ad basin tende/item latcraliter 

 expanso ; columella planulatd, antice concavd, dentato-plicatd. 



Shell sub-globose, narrowing gently towards the base, where it is produced into a 

 short wide beak or canal, slightly notched in front, smooth : aperture elongated, curved, 

 very narrow, but expanding a little before it enters the anterior canal ; the outer lip 

 prolonged at the posterior extremity, thickened ; compressed until nearly opposite the 

 wide part of the aperture, where it becomes thin and elevated, and is flattened on the 

 inner surface ; a narrow raised border, more or less prominent in different individuals, 

 runs along the outer margin, and joins the thin elevated part of the lip. The teeth 

 are numerous, short, not extending beyond the inner margin, and almost obsolete on 

 the anterior part of the lip. The inner lip, towards the front, expands into a narrow 

 ridge-like prominence, which extends to the very base ; and at the posterior extremity 

 rises into an angular callus, forming the left wall of the posterior canal. The columella 

 is flattened, hollowed towards the front, and covered with numerous slender pliciform 

 teeth. 



The projecting margins, imparting to the front of the aperture the resemblance of a 

 wide trough, form a character by no means common among the Cyprseae ; it is found, 

 although not so prominently, in C. exerta (Desh.), a species from the sables infe- 

 rieurs of the Paris Basin, and in the English C. Bartonensis. A short and very globose 

 variety (fig. Id) occurs at Whetstone, in which the projecting margins are farther 

 apart, and the trough, consequently, is wider than in the type. The specimen figured, 

 which is from Mr. Wetherell's collection, has lost part of the anterior canal. 



In the young state, this Cypreea is almost pyriform, being much more produced and 

 attenuated in front; and it is covered with very numerous transverse raised lines, 

 traversed by sharp, perspicuous lines of growth ; the aperture is much lengthened and 

 curved at the posterior extremity, wide, and very effuse in front, and the columella is 

 twisted. In this state it has the appearance of an Ovula, and, in fact, an immature 

 individual of the species obtained by Mr. Wetherell, from the well sunk at the Lower 

 Heath, Hampstead, has been described by Mr. Sowerby as Ovulum retusum. A selection 

 from the beautiful series of specimens in Mr. Wetherell's cabinet, with the aid of some 



