442 Mollusca Caribhceana. 



SUCCINEA.* 



Succinea. Draparnaiid, Cuvzer^ Lam, Sowerbi/^ Guilding. 



Character Genericus. 



7'entacula quatuor retractilia, duo superioraelongato-cylindrica, 

 capitulis oculiferis.+ 



Pallium latum, pedem retractum tegens. 



Fes magous, postice attenuatus. 



Operculum nullum. 



Animal terrestre, vix intra testam recipiendum. 



Testa ovata vel ovato - conica, apertura amplissima integra, 

 saepius longitudinali ; labio externo tenui, non reflexo. 



* Were it not likely to add confusion to our delightful science, this name 

 might well be changed : such generic terms as Succinea in Zoology, and Leu- 

 codon in cryptogamic Botany cannot be too severely censured. 



+ Notwithstanding the curious remarks of M. Gaspard, in the second Num- 

 ber of this Journal, p. 179, I think we may persist in calling the spots on the 

 superior tentacula, the eyes ; though they are without doubt very imperfectly 

 developed. These organs, situated at the very base of the feelers of Limn^a,* 

 Helicina, and other genera, cannot surely be considered as " organs of touch." 

 la some marine Mollusca their structure is much more perfect. 



* I take this opportunity of calling the attention of British Naturalists to the 

 vast number of amphibious Mollusca, which swarm in the ditches and rivulets 

 about Oxford, the shells only of which have been figured even in modern 

 works. I unfortunately neglected during my residence at the University to 

 draw and describe the animals ; but should any one out of the small number 

 of our members, who have had opportunities of attending to such studies 

 undertake the task, his industry would doubtless be rewarded, by the dis- 

 covery of many new and interesting species. I say " small number," but we 

 may trust that the stigma we have so long borne for our neglect of Zoology, 

 will soon be wiped away, and that the time is not far distant, when his 

 Majesty in his paternal anxiety for the credit of the University, will found a 

 Professorship of Zoology ; as he has done already in Geology and Miner- 

 alogy, placing it in this particular, in wliich alone it seems deficient, on a 

 footing with those of the continent. Then may we hope to see the names of 

 our Ashmole, and the laborious Lister held in respect by those to whom they 

 bequeathed their treasures ; and the miserable remains of their once valuable 

 museum, placed under the care of some one possessing the diligence and 

 ardour of Buckland, and arranged in a manner calcuiatcd to instruct and 

 not to disgust the Student in Zoology. 



