VOLUTA. 



iSpecies 3i. (Mus. Cuming.) 



VoLUTA Brasiliana. Vol. tedd snbglohoso-ovata, ven- 

 tricosd, spird brevissimd, apice vix papillari, anfracti- 

 bus linels incrementi rude notatls, supenie gibboso-an- 

 gulatk, ad angulum nodoso-tuberculatis, columelld bl- 

 pUcatd, aperturd patuld ; intus extusque fulvescetik, 

 immacidatd. 



The Brazilian Volute. Shell somewhat globoscly 

 ovate, ventricose, spire very short, apes scarcely 

 papillary, whorls rudely marked with the Hues of 

 growth, gibbously angled round the upper part, 

 nodosely tuberclcd at the angle, columella two- 

 plaited, apertm-e wide open ; light fulvous within 

 and without. 



SOLANDEE, Catalogue of the Portland Museum, p. ISil. 

 no. 3958. 

 Foluia colocynthk, Chemnitz. 



Hub. Coast of Buenos Ayres ; D'Orbiguy. 



This species was first made known by Favanne under 

 the title of ' Le Coloquiute,' or ' Wild Gourd;' but before 

 a Latin significance was given to this by Chemnitz, in the 

 name Voltda colocyiifMs, it was published by Dr. Solander 

 in the Catalogue of the Portland Museum with the name 

 J'ohita BrasiUiDia, descriptive of its locality. 



It is somewhat doubtful whether the species exists of 

 so large a size in the present day as here represented. 

 The specimen figured was found by Mr. Cuming at 

 Bueuos Ayres, buried with others in a bank composed of 

 loose earth and worn shells, at a distance of about fifty 

 miles from the sea. M. D'Orbigiiy relates having seeu it 

 in abundance, dead, upon the sandy points of the coast, 

 from the mouth of the Rio de la Plata to Patagonia, where 

 it is particularly common about the mouth of the Rio 

 Negro, but much smaller ; one he collected alive, and has 

 figured, with the animal, in his magnificent work ' Voyage 

 dans rAmericjue Meridiouale,' Moll. PI. 60. f. 4-G. 



spird brevi, aenuinui 

 Irembns, snperiu- ih-pi 



Species 3.5. (Mus. Ruckcr.) 

 VoLUTA ANGULATA. Vul . t,'sl,ipl(iiii)-fit.sif(inili, sMrigoiid, 

 ■;■ arnliii^riil,!, (l.ifractibuS 

 liihitis, cohiiiii'thi ampliter 

 tripVicatd, aperturd pahdd, labro simpUci ; fulveicenle- 

 xpiidiced, Imeis castmieis sape raris, dislantibus, e sutu- 

 ris promisciu' desceudeidibus. 

 TuE ANGLED VoLiiTE. Shell flatly fusifonn, somewhat 

 triangular, spire short, acuminated, rather sharp at 

 the apex, whorls smooth, depressly angled round the 

 upper part, columella largely threo-plaited, aperture 

 wide open, lip simple ; light fulvous bay, with waved 

 chestnut lines, often few and distant, descending pro- 

 miscuously from the sutures. 

 SwAlNSDN, Exotic Conchology, PI. 3 and 4. 

 I'lj/idii Diifn-siiil, Donovan. 

 I'ulida iKtuica, Siiubert and Wagner. 

 Foluiella uiigulata, D'Orbigny. 

 Hab. Buenos Ayres and Patagonia ; D'Orbigny. 



This species is chiefly remarkable from the circumstance, 

 that the animal, which is beautifully spotted all over like 

 a leopard, has a lobe extending from the mantle on the 

 left side over the shell, after the manner of a Cowry. It 

 does not, however, secrete a vitrified enamel, but a milky 

 glazed coating, like Cymbium, through which the zigzag 

 marking is mostly visible. In a specimen before me from 

 Mr. Dennison's collection, the shell is entirely covered 

 with this glazed coating, flowing beyond the apex even, 

 and the marking is obliterated, whilst the columella and 

 interior of the aperture is of a rich carnelion colour. 



M. D'Orbigny observed tlus species to inhabit the coast 

 of South America from the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, 

 north of Buenos Ayres, to the Bay of San Bias in Pata- 

 gonia, where it lives buried in the sand. Having captured 

 a specimen that was advancing from its hiding-place into 

 the water, he kept it alive for several days in a glass vessel, 

 dm-ing which time it walked about enveloped by the lobe 

 of its mantle. 



Novemljcr, 1849. 



