i6S 



specimens, as well as with the figures of a number of specimens from 

 Europe. 



GiRTV^^ observes that i;i America A. dcsqjiamata " is nothing more than 

 A. rcticu/aris with an erect beak, area, and unconcealed foramen ; and the 

 same appears to be equally true of the European forms. This character or 

 group of characters seems scarcely of specific value ; but in any case the same 

 peculiarities of surface, etc , which distinguish A. inissoiiriciisis from A. reti- 

 cularis serve to differentiate it from A. dcsqiianiata also." 



In his recent paper Hekbert Loewe-* also remarks that there are numer- 

 ous (intermediate) forms among such forms as A. reticularis, desquainata and 

 .aspcra, so that the latter two must be regarded as nothing but varieties of the 

 type species A. reticularis. In the synonymy of his description of the named 

 species he mentions, besides A. reticularis of previous authors, A. desqnamata 

 and also Tcrebratula prisca. 



The best comparative of the Chinese specimens is the material described 

 by Mansuy from the province of Yun-nan. His specimens were collected from 

 the Upper Devonian rocks of Lu-nan and east of Po-shi in the said Province. 

 The figures are very excellent art, but the description is by no means 

 sufficient. The reason why he raised A. desqiiainata to a species is of course 

 not obvious. It seems, however, that in Yun-nan, or at least in the field for 

 which he is responsible, A. desquainata predominates in the upper division of 

 the Devonian formation, for he remarks, " Ce fossile est presque aussi com- 

 mon dans le Dcvonien supfrieur que Atrypa reticularis dans le Devonien 

 moyen.^^ " Therefore if the same holds regularly for the fossil in all localities 

 the specific independence of A. reticularis and A. desqnamata may be re- 

 garded as conclusive. Hall, however, has cited several examples of the form 

 from the Comiferous (Onondaga) limestone under the name of A. reticularis. 



Here should be noticed a form recorded from the upper division of the 

 Middle Devonian of the Eastern Alp as a new variety of A. desquainata by 

 Frech.'^' According to the author it is an A. desquainata in all essential 



i) GuvTV: — Monogr. U. S. Geol. Survey, XXXII., pt. 2, p. 503. 



s) LoF, e: — ^Die nordische Devongeschie'be Deutschlands. Neues Jahrt)., Beil.-Bd., 35, p. 



59- 1913- 



3) Mwsuv: — loc. cit. 



4) Fkech: — Ueber das Djvon der Ostalpjn, Zsitschr. d. dentsch. geol. Geselshaft, XLIII., p. 

 680. pi. XLIV., fig. I. 1891. 



