248 It. Etheridgc, Jun . — Contributions to British Palceontology. 
cliaracter of the latter ; distance between the apex and the lower 
margin is mucb reduced ; tbe spire has a tendency to become bori- 
zontally coiled instead of vertically. Tbe aperture is elongately 
oval. 
Obs . — Tbe relation of tbe variety to the typical form is seen in 
the pronounced inrolled spire, feebly sinuated sharp edges to the 
aperture, with an elongated little-marked lobe in front, and the fine 
concentric striae, with at intervals a stronger lamina of growth. 
The horizontal manner in which the spire is coiled appears to be 
a peculiar character of this variety. Were it compressed laterally 
instead of from above downwards, it would be more closely allied to 
Capulus ( Pileopsis ) compressa, Goldf., from the Eifel, as figured by 
Quenstedt. 1 
Loc. and Horizon . — Magazine Limeworks (quarry at), near Path- 
head, Haddingtonshire, in shale above No. 2 Limestone (L. Carbon - 
iferous Limestone Group). The figured specimen was obtained by, 
and is in the Cabinet of Mr. J. Simpson, Edinburgh, to whom I am 
indebted for calling my attention to it, and after whom I name the 
variety. Specimens are also in the Coli. Geol. Society of Scotland, 
collected by Mr. J. Bennie. 
Genus Dentalium, Linnaeus. 
Dentalium inornatum, M‘Coy ? Plate XII. Fig. 1. 
D. inornatum, McCoy, 1844 ; Synopsis Carb. Foss. Ireland, p. 47, t. 5, f. 30. 
„ „ Tennant, 1847 ; Strat. List Brit. Foss., p. 105. 
„ ,, D’Orbigny, 1849; Prodrome de Pal., i. p. 127. 
„ „ Morris, 1854 ; Cat. Brit. Foss., 2nd ed.. p. 246. 
„ „ Pictet, 1855 ; Traite de Paleontol., vol. iii. p. 303. 
Sp. Chars. — Shell slightly curved, very gradually tapering; mouth 
circular. Surface smooth, without ornamentation (M‘Coy). 
Obs. — Omitting the question of dissimilarity in size, the only 
appreciable difference between the specimen and M'Coy’s figure is 
the rate at which they respectively taper. Of the descriptions of 
smooth Palasozoic Dentalii with which I am acquainted, 1). inornatum 
appears to be allied to D. granosum, var. leevigatum, Eichwald, 2 and 
more especially in minute delicacy to the Permian D. Speyeri, 
Geinitz. 3 A comparison may also be instituted with D. venustum, 
Meek and Worthen ; 4 but the latter is a less curved form, and tapers 
less rapidly. The shelly matter is exceedingly well preserved in our 
specimen, and not a trace of any ornamentation is to be seen. In 
the langer of Prof. M'Coy’s figures there is a notch or slit in the 
margin; but as nothing is said about this in the description of the 
species, I presume it is accidental. 
Loc. and Horizon . — “ Ardross Limestone,” shore (high-water 
mark) immediately east of Ardross Castle, near Elie, Fife (see 
remarks under Orthoceras Brownianum) . 
1 Handbuch, 1852, t. 35, f. 11. 
2 Lethaea Rossica, 1860, i. p. 1062. 
3 Dyas, 1861, p. 57, t. 12, f. 11-13. 
4 Illinois Geol. Report, Palaeontology, vol. iii. 1866, p. 284, t. 19, f. 8. 
