﻿3 
  

  

  PREFACE 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  evident 
  that 
  this 
  "book, 
  aiming 
  at 
  presenting 
  an 
  accurate 
  

   translation 
  and 
  explanation 
  of 
  the 
  generic 
  and 
  specific 
  names 
  of 
  the 
  

   marine 
  shells 
  of 
  our 
  Atlantic 
  Coast, 
  cannot 
  he 
  entirely 
  different 
  fron, 
  

   my 
  MARINE 
  MOLLUSC 
  A 
  OF 
  THE 
  EASTERN 
  COAST 
  OF 
  NORTH 
  AlffiRICA: 
  THEIR 
  NAI^ES 
  

   AND 
  MEAITINGS, 
  published 
  tv/o 
  years 
  ago, 
  which 
  had 
  the 
  same 
  purpose, 
  un- 
  

   less 
  the 
  translation 
  and 
  explanation 
  given 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  book 
  were 
  

   wrong, 
  and 
  this, 
  except 
  for 
  a 
  few 
  names, 
  is 
  not 
  the 
  case. 
  The 
  present 
  

   book, 
  however, 
  is 
  new 
  in 
  several 
  respects. 
  

  

  First 
  of 
  all 
  its 
  plan 
  is 
  not 
  the 
  same. 
  In 
  MARI1«IE 
  MOLLUSC 
  A 
  I 
  gen- 
  

   erally 
  followed 
  Johnson's 
  List, 
  In 
  this 
  book 
  I 
  have 
  adopted 
  the 
  nomen- 
  

   clature 
  and 
  classification 
  of 
  Professor 
  Johannes 
  Thiele 
  when 
  subse- 
  

   quent 
  studies 
  have 
  not 
  already 
  rendered 
  them 
  obsolete. 
  Thus 
  the 
  ar- 
  ■ 
  

   rangement 
  of 
  families 
  in 
  superf 
  amilies 
  and 
  of 
  genera 
  in 
  families, 
  the 
  j 
  

   names 
  used 
  for 
  families 
  and 
  genera, 
  are 
  mostly 
  taken 
  from 
  Thiele' 
  s 
  

   standard 
  work: 
  Handbuch 
  der 
  Systematischen 
  Weichtierkunde 
  (1929-1935), 
  

   and 
  in 
  so 
  doing, 
  I 
  follow 
  the 
  example 
  set 
  by 
  Dr. 
  R. 
  Tucker 
  Abbott, 
  

   Division 
  of 
  Mollusks, 
  U. 
  S. 
  National 
  Museum, 
  in 
  his 
  recent 
  useful 
  and 
  

   scholarly 
  book 
  "American 
  Seashells", 
  I 
  have 
  also 
  accepted 
  all 
  the 
  

   latest 
  changes 
  in 
  nomenclature 
  and 
  classification 
  incorporated 
  in 
  

   Abbott, 
  But, 
  if 
  some 
  of 
  Johnson's 
  names 
  are 
  now 
  rejected, 
  they 
  are 
  no1 
  

   completely 
  discarded; 
  they 
  are 
  listed 
  together 
  with 
  the 
  new 
  names, 
  and, 
  

   all 
  are 
  translated 
  and 
  expla.ined. 
  

  

  This 
  book 
  is 
  more 
  complete 
  than 
  I\/[ARIKE 
  MOLLUSC 
  A. 
  Over 
  635 
  genera 
  

   and 
  3200 
  species 
  of 
  seashells 
  ranging 
  from 
  Greenland 
  to 
  Texas, 
  (with 
  

   some 
  from 
  Bermuda 
  and 
  the 
  West 
  Indies 
  included), 
  are 
  mentioned 
  in 
  

   these 
  pages. 
  Every 
  effort 
  has 
  been 
  made 
  to 
  prepare 
  an 
  up-to-date 
  and 
  

   most 
  complete 
  checklist. 
  If 
  Johnson's 
  List 
  with 
  2630 
  entries 
  is 
  about 
  

   80 
  % 
  complete, 
  my 
  present 
  List 
  with 
  its 
  3245 
  species 
  can 
  be 
  given 
  an 
  

   average 
  of 
  almost 
  100 
  %, 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  tried 
  to 
  be 
  as 
  accurate 
  as 
  possible 
  in 
  the 
  translation 
  of 
  

   the 
  generic 
  and 
  specific 
  names. 
  But 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  alv;ays 
  an 
  easy 
  task, 
  es- 
  

   pecially 
  for 
  generic 
  names. 
  Many 
  authors, 
  instead 
  of 
  naming 
  shells 
  

   from 
  their 
  essential 
  characters, 
  often 
  follov; 
  the 
  rule 
  laid 
  dovra 
  by 
  

   Fabricius: 
  "Nomina 
  generics 
  nil 
  signif 
  icantia 
  omnino 
  optima. 
  Generic 
  

   names 
  having 
  no 
  meaning 
  at 
  all 
  are 
  excellent,*' 
  They 
  select 
  meaningless 
  

   words, 
  simply 
  because 
  these 
  words 
  offer 
  a 
  pleasing 
  and 
  harm.onious 
  com- 
  

   bination 
  of 
  syllables. 
  It 
  is 
  said 
  that 
  Adanson 
  chose 
  his 
  names 
  by 
  

   pulling 
  out 
  of 
  a 
  hat 
  syllables 
  written 
  on 
  pieces 
  of 
  paper. 
  This 
  can 
  

   also 
  be 
  said 
  of 
  Risso, 
  Leach, 
  Gray, 
  the 
  Adams 
  brothers 
  and 
  others. 
  Ob-| 
  

   viously 
  words 
  arbitrarily 
  chosen 
  or 
  invented 
  cannot 
  be 
  explained, 
  : 
  

   Specific 
  names 
  are, 
  as 
  a 
  rule, 
  more 
  easily 
  translated. 
  Almost 
  all 
  comQ 
  

   from 
  either 
  Latin 
  or 
  Greek, 
  and 
  even 
  if 
  their 
  derivation 
  is 
  not 
  givenJ 
  

   it 
  is 
  not 
  too 
  difficult 
  to 
  discover 
  in 
  the 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  shell 
  1 
  

   the 
  motive 
  which 
  guided 
  the 
  author 
  in 
  his 
  choice. 
  They 
  generally 
  are 
  

   very 
  appropriate 
  and 
  fit 
  the 
  shells 
  so 
  well 
  that 
  in 
  many 
  cases 
  know- 
  

   ing 
  their 
  meaning 
  will 
  help 
  a 
  great 
  deal 
  in 
  the 
  identification 
  of 
  the 
  

   shell 
  itself. 
  

  

  Since 
  a 
  name, 
  according 
  to 
  rules, 
  must 
  stand 
  without 
  modification 
  

   in 
  the 
  v/ay 
  it 
  was 
  proposed, 
  I 
  have 
  not 
  tried 
  to 
  reform 
  the 
  original 
  

   spelling 
  of 
  some 
  names 
  v/hich 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  evident 
  spelling 
  mistakes, 
  

   Polinices, 
  Hipponix, 
  Onykia 
  have 
  been 
  left 
  untouched 
  although 
  accord- 
  

  

  