48 



PANDORA. 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 



Shell oblong, inequilateral, inequivalve ; hinge 

 with two or three elongated teeth, with a fosset for 

 the cartilage in each valve ; right valve flattened ; 

 left valve convex ; hinge margin inflected ; muscu- 

 lar impressions two ; palleal impression with a sinus ? 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Mr. Say remarks : '^ The hinge teeth extend on 

 the inner surface of the shell in some degree like 

 those of Placuna, to which the genus seems to be 

 allied, both by the position of the teeth, and the 

 perlaceous consistence of the shell ; but it is emi- 

 nently distinguished by having two muscular impres- 

 sions." The genus was constructed by Lamarck, 

 and arranged after Corhula in his family Corbulees. 

 Cuvier refers it to his family Inclusa, as a subgenus 

 of Mya, and places it next to Panopea. Mr. Say 

 informs us that Poli has referred the animal of Pan- 

 dora to the same genus with that of Solen, under the 

 name of Hypogea. 



Few recent species of Pandora are known. In the 

 Tertiary of Europe, Deshayes enumerates three ; 

 two occur in the Pliocene of Virginia. 



