\OT.UTA Vi.xTE — \l 



which the micUlle is the iargvsl, aiul llicre nre scvend fine 

 thread-like plaits above, as in the /'. mvsica and its con- 

 geners, which are more or less obsolete. 



Concerning the locality of this species Mr. Dcnuison 

 writes me : — " I met with these shells in Liverpool, and 

 from inquiries made at the time, my impression is that they 

 were fi-om some part of the Eastern Coast of Africa." 

 Mr. Crotch, in part confirming this opinion, writes : — " All 

 that I can say of the locality of Fohda festiva, is, that it 

 was brought to Liverpool by the captain of a ship from the 

 coast of Africa, but whether east or west I know not." 



M. D'Orbigny, confounding the F. Magellcmica with this 

 species, owing, probably, to Lamarck's erroneous com- 

 parison, says, " It is evident that the Voluta festiva was 

 only known to Lamarck in a very young state, in which it 

 is slightly ribbed and tubercled, but as the shell increases 

 it loses the tubercles and becomes almost smootli. It 

 inhabits the entire coast of Patagonia, from Bahia Blanca 

 to the strait of Magalhaens. We have collected it to the 

 south of the Eio Negro, and in all the tents of the Pata- 

 gonians encamped on the Rio Santa Cruz we observed 

 this shell in use as a drinking cup." 



These interesting observations of M. D'Orbigny refer 

 without doubt to the Voluta Magellanica. The Voluta 

 festiva is a species from some part of Africa, of which only 

 a few specimens have yet been seen, and in which the 

 tubercles are more prominently developed as the shell 

 advances in arowth. 



Spccii- -J'J. (Mus. (Aiming.) 



VdMiTA PE.KTEXTA. Vul. testd siibelongato-ovatd, basi 

 truncatd, spire! breviuscvlu, npice papillari, subaai- 

 mitiatd, anfractibus superni declivibus, deinde plano- 

 convexis, colunielld triplieatd, aperturd subeffusd, labro 

 vex incrassato ; albidd, fvlvesceute-fusco undique nitidi 

 subtiliter reticulata, anfractumn margine satm-ali in- 

 tense castaneu macidatd, maculis flexuosis Unearibus 

 distantibus bifasciatd, apertura fauce castaneo tincld. 



The lace Volute. Shell somewhat elongately ovate, 

 truncated at the base, spire rather short, papillaiy 

 and slightly acuminated at the apex, whorls slanting 

 round the upper part, then flatly convex, columella 

 three-plaited, aperture slightly efl'used, lip scm-ccly 

 thickened ; whitish, neatly finely reticulated through- 

 out, sutural edge of the whorls spotted with very 

 dark chestnut, and encircled with two bands of distant 

 flexuous linear spots, interior of the aperture tinged 

 with chestnut. 



Uab. North Coast of Australia ; Jukes. 



This little species belongs to that section of the genus 

 comprising V. volva, Turneri, and reticulata, from which 

 I have no hesitation in pronouncing it to be distinct. The 

 net-work is not the net-work of reticulata, it is from a 

 dift'erent loom, and the bands, composed of a few very 

 characteristic flexuous streaks, have no affinity of design 

 with those of the congeneric species, aU of which are 

 eminently distinct from each other though modelled on 

 the same specific type. 



