Correspondence. 201 
Monograph of British Carboniferous lanicHibranchs, published in the 
PaljEontolographical Society's vohime for 1903. 1 wish Mr. Girly had 
had access to this Monograph before he penned his note because un- 
fortunately most of the scientific names quoted by him turn out to be 
mere synonyms uf previously described species, or belong to genera 
distinct from .Iviciilipcctcn. 
I think, in the unfortunate circumstance of the absence of any defi- 
nite indication, that it is a good and simple rule to regard the first de- 
scribed species as tlie type of the genus. All that Mr. Girty has to 
say as to the locality is important, but nevertheless an author has some 
object in view in the arrangement of his species, and as McCoy adopted 
no alphabetical order, we must presume that he intended A. planoradi- 
attis to be the type. lUifortunately, however, he had erected this spe- 
cies on a left valve, in ignorance of the fact that he had previously 
described the right valve as Pcclcii tabulahis; consequently this name 
has the priorit}'. .'\gain McCoy did not recognize that !iis A. docciis had 
been described long before by Portlock under the name I'cclcn semi- 
ccstatits, whicli nam.' is prinr oven to /'. Sicxiiosus McCoy. The 
hinge plate of this snecies is almost smooth, vide fig. 11, PI. XIII, (op. 
supra cit.), the fine parallel striae are only to be seen by a microscope. 
I have found it necessary to remove A. papyraceus ^o■v\^ .s£<., A. gran- 
osus Sow. sp., and A. concavus McCoy sp. from Aviculipccten, be- 
cause they have a narrow linear hinge plate, and the posterior is not 
marked off from the rest of the valve, I have referred them to Pter- 
inopecten, Hall. Neither of these three species can in any way be 
regarded as the type of Aviculipccten. I have pointed out Zittel's mis- 
take in referring A. papyraceus Sow. sp., as the type of that genus, 
Op. supra cit, p. 51. It will be noted in my monograph that I have 
restricted Aviculipccten to forms with a long hinge line, well marked 
elongated ears, but even so I feel that future observations will prob- 
ably necessitate a still further restriction of this genus. 
WIIEELTON HIND. 
Stoke OH Trent, Hngland, July 21, 1904. 
PERSONAL AND SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 
At a recent meeting of the Virginia Bo.\rd of Agri- 
culture an appropriation was voted for a Geological Survey 
of the mineral resources of Virginia. The survey will be 
conducted jointly by the State Department of Agriculture and 
the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Dr. Thomas L. Watson, 
professor of geology in the Polytechnic Institute, was ap- 
pointed Geologist-in-charge of the survev. 
Major A. W. Vogdes, San Diego. Cal.. has recently been 
retired from active service in the United States army, and has 
