SYSTEMATIC LIST OF THE FREDERICK E. EDWARDS COLLECTION OF BRITISH OLIGOCENE AND EOCENE MOLLUSCA IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM (NATURAL HISTORY), WITH REFERENCES TO THE TYPE-SPECIMENS FROM SIMILAR HORIZONS CONTAINED IN OTHER DEPARTMENT OF THE MUSEUM. BY RICHARD BULLEN NEWTON, F.G.S. LONDON: PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES. SOLD BY LONGMANS & Co., 39 PATERNOSTER ROW; B. QUARITCH, 15 PICCADIILY; DULAU & Co., 37 SOHO SQUARE, W. AND AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM (NATURAL HISTORY), CROMWELL ROAD, S.W. 1891. LIBRAN UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PREFACE. THERE is probably no Collection which has been more enquired after, or more carefully studied, both by English and Foreign Malacologists, than the Eocene Molluscan Collection of the late F. E. Edwards. This gentleman formed one of a little band of early Metropolitan geologists, who associated together in 1838 for the purpose of collecting, describing, and illustrating the Eocene Mollusca. They named their Society the "London Clay Club," and the members were Dr. J. S. Bowerbank, F.R.S., Searles V. Wood, F.G.S., Prof. John Morris, F.G.S., Alfred White, F.L.S., Nathaniel T. Wetherell, F.G.S., James de Carle Sowerby, F.L.S., and Frederick E. Edwards, F.G.S. Originally intended to illustrate the fossils of the London Clay, Mr. Edwards extended his researches over the Eocene strata of Sussex, Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight, where, assisted by Mr. Henry Keeping, he made the most complete collection ever attempted by any geologist in a single series of deposits. This Collection was acquired by purchase, for the British Museum, in 1872-73. The value of the accompanying list is still further enhanced by the addition to it of the types from the "Dixon," "Wetherell," "Bowerbank," "Sowerby," and other Collections, so that it contains not only many new and undescribed forms, but also all the types hitherto described as far as it has been possible to determine them. Formerly it was deemed that a species of Mollusk from the London Basin should bear a distinct specific name from that of a like shell found in the Paris Basin. Now happily broader views prevail, and the Malacologist who would succeed must now compare his own specimens also with those from the same horizon in other countries; and thus a common basis of nomenclature is being widely established, to the great benefit of science and the advance in true knowledge of the geographical distribution of species. The simultaneous revision of the Paris Basin Mollusca, which is being carried out by Messrs. G. F. Harris, F.G.S., and H. W. Burrows, has enabled Mr. Newton to compare notes with those gentlemen, and so give greater certainty to his determinations. It is extremely desirable that the new and as yet undescribed species which have lain perdu for so many years in the Edwards Collection should be as speedily as possible fully described and figured, so as to give to his MS. names a real significance. Geological Department, British Museum (Natural History), July 25th, 1891. HENRY WOODWARD. INTRODUCTION. THE special Collection which is made the subject of this compilation consists of over 39,000 shells obtained from the Oligocene and Eocene strata of the more important localities situated in the London and Hampshire Basins. The class Lamellibranchiata comprises 11,516 specimens, represented by 648 species and varieties, of which 428 are described, the remainder, 220, being undescribed or bearing manuscript names only. The Gasteropoda contain 27,421 specimens, consisting of 1151 species and varieties, of which 786 are described and 365 undescribed. Lastly, the Cephalopoda number 254 specimens, containing 15 described species. These items yield a total number of specimens of 39,191, representing 1229 described and 585 undescribed (or manuscript) names. It is the author's intention to describe and figure in due course all those specimens bearing manuscript names; but as a preliminary measure it was deemed advisable to retain them in this work, as so many have found their way into published lists, especially in foreign collections; and although they can take no rank at present in the recognized specific nomenclature of Conchology, they are of considerable interest in the study of the facts connected with generic distribution. The classification of the genera and families has been mainly drawn up from that proposed by the late Dr. Ferd. Stoliczka in his monographs on the "Pelecypoda" and "Gastropoda," both published in the Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India (vide Bibliography), with such additions and emendations as have been subsequently made by Dr. Paul Fischer and other eminent systematists. The merits of Stoliczka's work on the Mollusca are frequently overlooked by conchologists, chiefly because of his reputation as a paleontologist, though the elaborate memoirs quoted above display the accuracy and profoundness of his knowledge when dealing with either the recent or the fossil aspect of the subject. The plan adopted in the preparation of this work has been to give the |