THE MEDITERRANEAN NATURALIST 
149 
to them saying: — “In your fine Clausilia we have 
a quite new and very distinct species,’ — and as I 
had proposed to name it after him oscarina he 
asks me to give to it another name e. g. melitensis , 
there being already many named for him. In de- 
ference to his wishes as none of our Clausiliee , 
though almost all peculiar to the Island, bears 
this name I adopt if with pleasure and following 
his advice I give its differential diagnosis, trusting 
to figure it wdien I shall deal with our land and 
freshwater molluscs in greater detail: — 
Clausilia ( Papillifera) melitensis, Cabuana 
Gatto, n. sp. 
Differt a Clausilia imitatrix Bttg. cui proximo 
affinis est , testa prof undim punctato-rimata tue- 
rito-fusiformi; isabell ino-grh ea; spira turrita; 
apice minus obtuso . Anfr. 9-|-10-| planiores, ulti- 
mus planissimus , non angustatus , bast, subpiano 
clistinctius bier {.status, crista exterior e longiore 
arcuata. Aperture, distincte minor , l amelia inf era 
obsoleta, nunquam sigmoidea neque a basi in- 
tuenti spiraliter recedens , in prof undo tester, pr act m 
VESICLE INSTAR PECULIARITER INFLATA. Lunellct 
magis profunda subventralis , brevis , lata , trian- 
gularis; plica palatatis inf era nulla. — Patella 
clausilii brevis lata , semicircularis, ligulee instcir 
excavate , apice acutato. 
Habitat — in insula Melita , ad locct proirupta 
cquae appellant Rdum el Maddliena, non longe 
a Verdalae Pa /agio. 
Alt. 15-161, diam. med. 3|-3f mm; alt. apert. 3j, 
lat. apert. 3 mm . — 
Prof. Boettger remarks:— The patella or “trow- 
el” of the clausilium is not sigmoid as in Cl. imit- 
atrix, but semicircular and the inner form of the 
lamella inf era in the broken shell next to the posi- 
tion of the clausilium is quite peculiar and has no 
analogy in any other known Clausilia, It looks 
like a sphaerical bladder and comparing it with 
the shape of the inner portion of the lamella inf era 
of Cl. imitatrix a great diversity will be found.” 
I expect to go to Filfola shortly and I have hopes 
that the Clausilia of the rock is different from 
both Cl. imitatrix and melitensis, and even if it is 
not so I shall be glad to know to which of these 
forms those of the islet belong, — Fielden having 
already noted their remarkable size, 
Clausilia oscitans Per, var. pseudosyra- 
cusiAj C.G. nov. var. 
This variety of Clausilia oscitans Per. was until 
lately considered as the Cl. syracusana Phil. = ma- 
crostoma Cantr. It is found labeled as such in all 
collections of Maltese shells in Malta, it is given 
by Mamo, Issel, Penoit, Gulia; and even after 
Prof. Boettger’s demarcation between Cl. syracu- 
sana and oscitans, Becker and Fischer in his Ma- 
nuel de conchyologie put down the syracusana 
amongst the Maltese shells. 
I must confess that on my first beginning to 
occupy myself with Maltese molluscs I was much 
puzzled by this form which being found in Valletta 
and its suburbs was nearer at hand and which 
occurred to me as being exactly like the typical 
Cl. syracusana Phil, which I collected from the 
ramparts of Syracuse. 
On sending it to Prof. Boettger he observed 
that it had the disposition of its laminae similar 
to that of Cl. oscitans and that therefore it must 
fall under that head. But on comparing a great 
number of specimens of this form with others of 
Cl. oscitans from the country I came to the con- 
clusion that all those persons w r ho had mistaken 
it for the syracusana were not after all much to 
be blamed, because as it had been considered that 
the habitat of the latter extended to Malta and 
then meeting with this form which so much resem- 
bled it they never thought of examining it closely 
— and this led to the general opinion that besides 
oscitans we have the syracusana until Boettger 
clearly distinguished between them. But since it 
is oscitans it must form a distinct variety and Prof, 
Boettger also shared my views in this regard and 
favoured me with its differential characters: — 
Clausilia (Papillifera) oscitans, Fer. var. 
PSEUDOSYEACUSIA, CaRUANA GaTTO. N.V. 
Differt a typo testa majoore, magis fusiform i, 
minus ventriosg, anfr. superst. plerumque 8-9, nee 
6-7 dense costulatis — costis in anfr. penultimo 35- 
40 nec densissime costulcUo — striatis (striis 85-105 
in typo), apert. distincte magis verticali , basi mi- 
nus recedente. Center urn et prexcipue apparatu cb - ic- 
stredi typo simillima. 
Habitat — Valletta} apud Meiitenses in rimis moe- 
nium locisque proximis. 
Alt. (elecoll.) 154-174, lat. med. 4l-4f mm; alt. 
apert 4-4-^, lat. apert. 3l-4 mm. 
A. Caruana Gatto. 
