On the Marine Testacea of the Piedmontese Coast. 155 



XIV. — On the Marine Testacea of the Piedmontese Coast. 

 By J. GwYN Jeffreys, Esq., F.R.S. 



[With a Plate.] 



The conchology of the British islands having been nearly ex- 

 hausted by the excellent work of the late Professor Edward 

 Forbes and Mr. Hanley, I had no wish to glean the small hand- 

 ful that remained in that field ; and I therefore determined to 

 spend part of my " long vacation'' in exploring another district, 

 in which my former labours and experience might prove useful 

 to me. My original intention was to visit Sardinia, the fauna 

 of which island is but little known, although its scenery and 

 antiquities, as well as the habits of its people, have been so 

 well described, and invested with so much interest, by the book 

 of my friend Mr. Tyndale ; but this intention was frustrated 

 by a regulation which I was informed on my arrival in Italy 

 had been recently made for putting all sea-borne travellers from 

 the mainland in quarantine for five days, by reason of the pre- 

 valence of cholera at Genoa and Leghorn. This would have 

 effectually marred the prosecution of my design ; and I there- 

 fore, but with reluctance, gave it up. Another plan which I 

 had formed as an alternative before leaving England, was to 

 explore that part of the Riviera which lies between Genoa and 

 Portofino on the east. This I subsequently carried out, and 

 extended by excursions in the same direction to Sestri di Levante 

 and Spezia, thus including about sixty miles of sea-coast; and 

 ultimately, through the assistance of the Chevalier Verany (the 

 well-known author of one of the most finished livres de luxe 

 which ever emanated from a scientific pen — his work on the 

 Mediterranean Cuttles), I made myself acquainted with the tes- 

 taceous mollusca or shell-fish of the whole of the Piedmontese 

 sea-board, extending from 43° 40' to 44° 25' of north latitude 

 between Nice and Genoa, and from 7° 10' to 10° of east longi- 

 tude between Nice and Lerici. It is, with the exception of the 

 Gulf of Venice, the most northerly section of the Mediter- 

 ranean, and is situate in nearly the same parallel of latitude as 

 the lower part of the Bay of Biscay. 



I believe I was the first who ever "dredged" this part of the 

 Mediterranean ; and as a short account of the adventure may 

 be useful or interesting to other naturalists, I trust I may be 

 excused in prefixing it to the more scientific portion of this 

 communication. 



To transport dredges, sieves, and other conchological appa- 

 ratus across the continent, and afterwards to work in a small 

 felucca, with the aid of Italian boatmen who never saw a dredge 



