NOMENCLATURE 



In the year 1758 Carl von Linneu^ 

 described and figured In his Systema Nat- 

 urae, editions 10, 12, two species of 

 Voluta, namely muslca and ebraea, 



Lamarck, during 1799, In the Pro- 

 drome announced a number of Volutes some of 

 which are now recognized as subspecies of 

 musica . 



It was not until the first quarter 

 of the following century that any consider- 

 able progress was made in adding to the 

 number of species in the family. Lamarck 

 became quite active and prolific. He sup- 

 plied a number of additions to the growing 

 number of recognized species. The peak of 

 his career was attained in 1844 when. In 

 the Anlmaux sans Vertebres he described 

 what Is now known as Amorla undulata. 



Leach in l8l4 described the well- 

 known and distinctive shell which now bears 

 the name of Amorla zebra zebra and also its 

 subspecies Amorla zebra llneata. 



Thomas Martyn began, in about 1780, 

 the production of his Universal Concholo- 

 gist which was destined to become one of 

 the most beautiful and elaborate works upon 

 shells ever undertaken In any country. He 

 secured the services of as many as nine 

 young boys who were trained to execute the 

 coloring of the plates which had previously 

 been etched upon copper. The specimens il- 

 lustrated were obtained largely by men un- 

 der the command of Captains Byron, Wallace, 

 Cook, and others, upon their various voy- 

 ages in the South Seas. It appears that 

 Martyn concluded his work in 1792, there 

 being in all 160 separate plates, although 

 it is evident that many of the later plates 

 prepared were completed prior to the date 

 last mentioned. 



The French text of Martyn 's Intro- 

 duction and preface, together with many of 

 the plates, was reprinted in black and 

 white by Chenu in 1845. This work contains 

 many misprints most of which, however are 

 obvious. In Martyn 's work, following Tro- 

 chus, Voluta contains only species of Conus 

 and one coniform Voluta in the Linnean 

 sense. Several typical Linnean Volutes are 

 placed under Bucclnum by Martyn. Number 82 

 of Chenu' s entries was apparently Intended 



to be Bucclnum vexlllum now known as Uarpu- 

 llna arausaica Solander. 



The Portland Catalogue, printed in 

 London in April 1786, Included a number of 

 Volutes. A sales catalog embraced material 

 to be sold for the account of Margaret 

 Cavendish, Dowager Duchess of Portland, and 

 is attributed to an anonymous compiler. 

 Dall (Nautilus, 'vol. J>k , pages 97, 104, 

 1920) in his summary of the Portland Cata- 

 logue did not refer to the description of 

 aullca, probably due to the fact that it 

 was not figured there. It was entered in 

 the Catalogue as No. 4021 "A very fine spec- 

 imen of Voluta aullca S. (Solander), a beau- 

 tiful red clouded species of the wild music 

 kind, its country unknown, unique." 



G. B. Sowerby, in the year 1825, 

 prepared a catalogue of the shells contained 

 in the collection of the Earl of Tankervllle 

 which at that time was offered for sale at 

 auction. In the Tankervllle Catalogue may 

 be found several species of Voluta beauti- 

 fully illustrated in hand colored plates. 

 Here are four Scapha including the first 

 figure of the present Aultca pulchra pulchra 

 which lives on the Great Barrier Reef of 

 Australia, also the first authentic figure 

 of the present Aullca aullca. The latter 

 was attributed to Solander by Sowerby who 

 printed Solander 's manuscript description 

 In the Tankervllle Catalogue. The manu- 

 script was supplied by Broderip and orig- 

 inated in the Sir Joseph Bank's library. 



G. B. Sowerby, Jr., monographed the 

 family In the Thesaurus Conchyllorum under 

 date of 1847. His descriptions, which were 

 printed in both Latin and English, were 

 somewhat longer than those of Reeve. Sower- 

 by 's figures, although considerably reduced 

 in size, are useful today, but unfortunately 

 he failed to indicate dimensions in connec- 

 tion with the illustrations. This fact 

 somewhat lessens the value of his work. 



Lovell Reeve in the year 1849 pub- 

 lished his monograph of the Voluttdae in 

 the Conchologla Iconica. With the excep- 

 tion of certain small species his illustra- 

 tions are faithful portrayals of the vari- 

 ous species. Reeve usually figured excep- 

 tionally fine examples which are somewhat 



