544 Mr. Yarrell on the Osteology 



others are of a dark purple brown, with scarcely a trace of any 

 other colour : the younger specimens are often beautifully ra- 

 diated. 



As in the true oysters the shells are but slightly opened while 

 the animals are feeding on the minute prey brought within them 

 by the action of the tentaculated cloak. They are exceedingly 

 tenacious of life, a property which is of abundant use to them 

 when the retiring of the tides and the dryness of the weather 

 might leave them exposed to the action of the tropical sun, I 

 formerly imagined that a small quantity of water was shut in on 

 the closing of the shells, for the refreshment of the animal ; but 

 this is improbable, as the Pernce would infallibly perish if kept 

 for a single day in unchanged sea-water, which, when stagnant 

 and offensive, is fatal to all marine creatures. Packed in damp 

 sand they will live for a month. This discovery will enable me 

 to procure living specimens of many genera peculiar to distant 

 parts of the West Indies, which otherwise I should have been 

 unable to figure without frequent and expensive journies. 



Dr. Fleming has published in the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia 

 an admirable paper on the various edible Mollusca known to 

 Europeans. In my future communications this catalogue will 

 be considerably extended. 



\^To be continued.'] 



Art. LXII. On the Osteology of the Chlamyphorus trun- 

 catus of Dr. Harlan. By William Yarrell, Esq,^ 

 F.L.S. In a letter to N. A. Vigors, Esq., F.R.S., 

 F.L.S., Sfc, Secretary to the Zoological Society. 



My dear Sir, 



The Council of the Zoological Society, influenced by 

 your friendly recommendation, having placed in my hands a 

 specimen in spirit of that very rare animal the Chlamyphorus 

 truncatus, described and figured by Dr. Harlan, I have now the 

 pleasure of returning the skeleton to the Museum of the Society, 



