V.—On the Denticulated Structure of the Hinge–line of Spirifera trigonalis, Martin

Extract

Recently, when examining some weathered fossiliferous limestone shale from the Lower Carboniferous strata of East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, my attention was attracted to some fragments of the valves of Spirifera trigonalis, Martin, in which I noticed, on the hinge-line of the dorsal valve, a row of small, round, hollow pits, and on the hinge-line of the ventral valve, a corresponding row of small, projecting, rounded denticles. These characters I had not noticed before, and on searching further, I found other fragments of the valves showing the same thing. This led to an examination of more perfect specimens of this Spirifera, contained in my own collection, and that of Dr. J. R. S. Hunter, of Braidwood, Carluke, and in one example, where the valves had slightly opened through pressure, on clearing away the shale, I found, on the outer edge of the ventral valve, a distinct row of small projecting denticles, that had evidently fitted into hollow pits or sockets in the dorsal valve, but from the way the valves had shifted in this specimen these were not seen. These denticles, when looked at externally, are nearly as numerous, and much of the same size, as those seen in many of the hinge-lines of shells of the genus Area, only in this genus, the teeth are the same in each valve, and lock into each other.