176 BUCCINUM. 



"American specimens of the common sort are smaller than 

 European ; and Stimpson endeavors to show that they belong to 

 a distinct species, because of ' a fades ditiicult to describe.' * If 

 the supposed difference cannot be defined by an}' words or delinea- 

 tion, and the only substitute offered is the nearly exploded idea 

 of representation of species, it is a pity that naturalists should be 

 so unnecessarily perplexed. 



'' In Scotland and Shetland this common shell-flsli is called 

 ' Buckie,' in the Isle of Man (according to Forbes) ' mutlag,' in 

 Holland ' wulk ' (Born), in France ' bouche-aurore ' (Lamarck), 

 at Brest ' grosse bigorne ' and at Rochelle ' burgau morchon ' 

 (De Montfort), and in La Manche 'ran' (De Gervillo.f The 

 animal emits a thin and copious slime. From its size and tough- 

 ness it makes a good subject for anatomical demonstration — 

 altliough Cuvier has left A'ery little to be known about that part 

 of its history. | It burrows in the sand like Natica catena ; and 

 its loot is similarly traversed by numerous canals, which admit 

 of its being distended by water; this enters by an orifice at the 

 up[)er corner of the mouth of the shell, and finds its way, through 

 the abdominal cavit}', into the vascular system of the foot. 

 When it burrows, the end of the pallial tube or siphon is either 

 exposed or but slightly covered by the sand, so as to supply the 

 gills with water or air as the case may require. Beudant's ex- 

 periments show that it cannot live in fresh water. The formation 

 of twoopercula by the same individual appears to be congenital, 

 and not owing to an injury of the opercular lobe, which would 

 cause an aborted or defective growth ; for in some of these mon- 

 strous specimens the twin opercula are so large that they are 

 doubled or folded inwards, side by side, in order to fit the mouth 

 of the shell. This mollusk is very voracious, and is often caught 



* In his Synoptical Table, Stimpson distinguishes the American form 

 (7?. iindithitinii) by its short colunielhi, and tlie sinus of the outer lip being 

 near tlie suture instead of near the middle. These distinctions usually 

 hold g<jod, but not always : it is not difficult to find American specimens 

 with the p]uropean cliaracters, and rice-vensa. 



f The common generic name in English is "whelk." 



^ Details of the anatomy and embryology of IJuc. undatum, will be 

 found in the introductory portion of Vol. II of this Manual, with illus- 

 trations upon Plates 3, 4 and 8. 



