AMPULLARIA. 



Plate I. 



Genus AMPULLARIA, Lamarck. 

 Testa glohom vel ovata, plus minus umbilicata, raro imper- 

 forata, epidermidc crassmsculd olivaced induta, spira 

 siUiira modo simplici, modo canaliculatd, anfradiius 

 plus minus veniricosis, lavigatis; aperturd sichampld, 

 lahro simplici. Operculum, nunc corneum nunc calca- 

 remn, aperturam claudens. 

 Shell globose or ovate, more or less umbilieated, rarely ita- 

 perforated, covered with a rather thick olive epider- 

 uais, suture of the spire sometimes simple, sometimes 

 channelled, whorls more or less ventricose, smooth ; 

 aperture rather large, lip simple. Operculum some- 

 times horny, sometimes calcareous, closing the aper- 

 ture. 

 The sombre hue and olndous similarity of form, desti- 

 tute of any indication of sculpture, of the shells of Avipul- 

 larla, have led to this genus beiug very much neglected 

 by the collector ; and their uuattiactive range of habita- 

 tion, in swampy marshes, ponds, and rivers, has not been 

 very inviting to the traveller. A few ardent naturalists, 

 including among the foremost M. D'Orbigny and Mr. 

 Bridges on the banks of the great rivers of Bolivia, Dr. 

 Spis iu Brazil, M. Caillaud in Africa, Mr. Yates and Mr. 

 >Vallace at the rivers Marafion and Amazon, MM. Salle 

 and Ghiesbrecht in Mexico, Mr. Dyson in Honduras, Mr. 

 Benson in India, and Mr. Layard and Mr. Templeman in 

 Ceylon, have directed their energies since Lamarck's time 

 to AmpullaiiaAimximg ; and the result is the following 

 ample series of a hundred and thirty species, nearly two- 

 thirds of which are new to science, and of which scarcely 

 a dozen were known to the author of the ' llistoire des 

 -Ynimaux sans Vertebres.' A monogTaph of the genus 

 was published by Dr. Philippi in 1851, in -M. Kuster's 

 edition of the ' Conchylien Cabinet' of Chemnitz, but it is 

 founded on very imperfect materials. 



The species of Ampullaria are exceedingly well-defined, 

 though bearing great general resemblance, and, what is 

 not usual with moUuscs aflecting such habitats, many of 

 them are stained at the aperture with brilliant colour. 

 The animal, as is now sufficiently well known, is of an 

 amphibious nature, possessing a double system of respira- 

 tion, which adapts it to breathe either air or water, ac- 

 cording to the requirements of the place of its habitation, 

 which may be at one time flooded and at another dry. 

 This peculiarity, observed originally by Mr. Guilding at 

 the Caribbee Islands, was noticed first in dctnil bv M. 



Caillaud on his return from his expedition to the Nile. 

 On placing some of his Ampullaria in a basin of water, 

 M. Caillaud unexpectedly found many of his specimens 

 come to life, and M. D'Oi-bigny discovered the existence 

 of a distinct pulmonary apparatus. 



So many new species of Ampullaria have been collected 

 by recent travellers in comparatively few localities, that it 

 is more than probable the genus abounds to a much larger 

 extent than we have at present any idea of. It does not, 

 however, exist in the great rivers of North America or of 

 North-temperate Europe, and is peculiar to warm and 

 tropical latitudes. 



Species 1. (Mus. Cuming.) 



AMPULL.4.IIIA CUPRINA. Ariip. testd subquadrato-globosd, 

 tenuiculd, profundi angulato-umbilicatd, spird obtusi 

 exsertd, anfraciibus superne late planatis, ad angidimt 

 rotundatii, deinde plano-convexis ; lutescente, rnfo- 

 fusco tinctd et fasciatd ; aperturd ovatd, labro sim- 

 plici. 



The copper A.mpullaria. Shell somewhat squarely 

 globose, rather thin, deeply angularly umbibcatcd, 

 spire obtusely exserted, whorls broadly flattened 

 round the upper part, rounded at the angle, then 

 flatly convex; yellowish, stained and banded with 

 red-brown ; aperture ovate, lip simple. 



Hab. ? 



A light, somewhat inflated species, with the whorls 



broadly rotundately angled round the uppeif part. 



Species 2. (ilus. Cuming.) 



Ampullaria Spixii. Amp. testd globoso-turbinatd, sui- 

 ampUter iimbilicatd, spird subobtusd, anfractibus ru- 

 tundatis, lavibus, subangustis, superne declivibus ; 

 lutescente, fasciis interne castaneis cingulatd; aperturd 

 circulari-ovaid, lahro simplici. 



Spix's Ampullaria. Shell globosely turbinated, rather 

 largely umbilieated, spire rather obtuse, whorls 

 rounded, smooth, rather narrow, slanting round the 

 upper part; yellowish, encircled with dark chestnut 

 bands; aperture circular-ovate, lip simple. 



D'Orbigny, Voy. dans I'Amer. Mci-id. p. 37(5. pi. 52. !'. 

 7, 8. 



Hab. lliver Parana, South America. 



December, 1S5G. 



