graphed plate, as though they were all different names of the same
family. Now to analyze the sentence :
Hitivira I suppose to be a corrupt writing of iff^^T hridivtra l noble
in heart,' equivalent to the Pehlevi word beh translated by " excellent." —
Airdna cha paramesivara, and the supreme lord of Airtin or Persia,
may be read (perhaps better) Air an va Pdrsesivara, the lord of Iran and
JFars. For the name, we have severally phd,cha, va, gha, or Jid ! followed
by liitigdn or hitikhdn ; and lastly devajanita, as before explained.
I am quite at a loss to find owners for such names, and although this
is the third time I have alluded to this coin, gaining little by little
each time, still I fear we have much to learn before we can unravel its
entire history. For the present I leave unnoticed the Pehlevi legend,
merely placing under view in the annexed plate, corresponding passages
from regular Sassanian coins, which being titles, will soon lead to a
knowledge of their alphabet and meaning.
III. — Note on the affinities of Galathea of Lamarck ( Potamophila
qfSoiverbyJ, a Genus of Fluviatile Testacea. By W. H. Benson,
Esq. Bengal Civil Service.
Much misapprehension appears to exist with regard to the proper
jocation of the Fluviatile bivalve genus Galathea of Lamarck. That
distinguished author placed the shell among his " Conques Fluviatiles,"
and considered it to be nearly allied to Cyrena, referring merely to the
teeth as a sufficiently distinguishing character. Rang, more unaccount-
ably, either on a cursory examination of the shell only, or of its description
and without reference to the indications of the characters of its inhabi-
tant, which the testaceous covering exhibits, says that it would perhaps be
advisable to unite it to Cyrena. It is true that this writer includes not
only the Conchce and Nymphacece, but also the Mactracece, Cardiacece,
and Lithophagi in one overgrown section, which he denominates
" Conchacees," but this attempt at generalization does not, in any wise,
absolve him from the charge of mistaking the place of the genus in
question in the family, which he has thought fit to constitute. The
fortuitous acquisition of a specimen of this still rather rare shell enables
me to offer some observations concerning it, which may serve to illustrate
its true affinities, and may not only tend to confirm Lamarck's separa-
tion of it from Cyrena, but likewise shew the propriety of its location
in a different family from that which he classed it.
The remaining genera of Lamarck's Conchce, whether marine or
fluviatile, consisting of Cyrena (including the more modern genus
Corbicula) Cyclas, Cyprina, Cytherea, fyc, possess the ligament and
siphons on the longer side, or that which occupies the dorsal aspect of
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On the affinities of Galathea
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