V L U T A . 



Plate XIV. 



Species 33. (Fig. a and b, Mus. Cuming.) 



VoLUTA Magellanica. Vol. testa ovato-oblmgd, ventn- 

 cosd, nunc imiticidd, lavigatd, nunc crassiusatld, 

 obscure nodoso-tubeixulatd, spird brevi, acuminatd, 

 apice papillari, anfractibus superne obtuse angulatis, 

 deinde subinjlatis, columella quadripUcatd, subcallosd, 

 aperturd patuld, labro vix incrassato ; fuscescente-albd, 

 Uneis castanets undatis, e suturis promiscue descenden- 

 tibus, interdum fasciatim nebulatis, profuse pictd, colu- 

 mella labroqiie subaurantiis. 



The Magellanic Volute. Shell ovately oblong, ven- 

 tricose, sometimes rather thin, sometimes obscurely 

 nodosely tubercled, spire short, acuminated, papillary 

 at the apex, whorls obtusely angled round the upper 

 part, then rather inflated, columella four-plaited, 

 rather callous, apertiu-e wide open, lip but slightly 

 thickened ; brownish white, profusely painted with 

 waved chestnut lines, descending promiscuously from 

 the sutures, sometimes clouded into bands, lij) and 

 columella tinged with orange. 



Chemnitz, Conch. Cab. vol. x. p. 139. pi. 148. f. 1313-4. 



Varieties. 



Vohita subnodosa, Leach. 

 J'ohda lubercuhla, Swainson. 

 I'ohdufestmi, D'Orbigny (not of Lamarck). 



Hub. Coast of Patagonia; D'Orbigny. TieiTa del Fuego ; 

 Cumius;. 



Li speaking of this species, it will be well to notice in 

 the first instance that I follow Lamarck, D'Orbigny, and 

 Deshayes in ascribing the broad shell under consideration, 

 distinguished by its four- or five-plaited columella, ven- 

 tricose growth, and short acuminated spire, to the Voluta 

 Magellanica of Chemnitz ; while the elongated shell with 

 a sharp cxserted spire and only two to three columeUar 

 plaits, referred to it by Kiener and Sowerby, is regarded 

 by me, after the same authorities, as the Voluta ancilla of 

 Solander in the Fortland Catalogue. 



The Voluta Magellanica is found abundantly on the 

 coast of Patagonia from the Bay of San Antonio to the 

 Straits of Magalhaens and Tierra del Fuego, and was 

 observed by ^L D'Orbigny to be in use among the natives 

 as a drinking cup. As in most Volutes, the shell is not 

 unfrecjuently tubercled, sometimes the first few whorls 

 only are noduled, sometimes tlie nodular tubercle-like 

 growth extends to the last whorl, in which state it is 

 the V. subnodosa of Leach, then tuberculata of Swainson. 

 In all conditions the painting consists of a promiscuous 

 assemblage of undulated chestnut lines, waved with little 

 regard to pattern or regularity, and occasionally clouded to 

 about the middle, indicating a band. The shell taken by 

 M. D'Orbigny for Lamarck's Voluta /estiva is evidently a 

 variety of this ; the author of the ' Voyage dans rAmerique 

 Meridionale ' having attached an importance to Lamarck's 

 observations on that species, which does not belong to 

 them. 



November, 184'J. 



