B U C C I N U M . 



Plate I. 



Genus Buccinum, Lim<Bm. 



Testa csata vel fusiformi-oMor/ffa, iasi emarginata, hitei-dum 

 sttbcanaliculata et plus minusve recurva; columella 

 plerumque IcecUjatd; upertmd callositate ant denticuUs 

 seepissime siipenw muuitd ; lahro tenuiculo, nunc sim- 

 plici, nunc crenulato. 



SheE ovate or fiisifonnly oblong, base emarginatcd, some- 

 times chamielled and more or less recurved ; colu- 

 mella generally smooth; aperture most frequently 

 furnished with a callosity or denticles ; Up rather thin, 

 sometimes simple, sometimes crenulated. 



The Latin word Bucchmm, a trumpet, was applied 

 iadiscriminately by the ancients to any sort of spii-al 

 univalve shell ; Limiauis adopted the term in a more res- 

 tricted sense, yet his genus of that name included a multi- 

 tude of very anomalous character. Lamarck divided the 

 Linnaean Biiccina into several excellent acknowledged 

 genera, the chief portion of which constitute his family 

 Furpurifira. ; and it has been considered necessaiy to 

 institute a stiU fiu'ther subdivision of those species dis- 

 tinguished by the titles Na-ssa, Bullia, Cyllene and Phos. 



The Buccimim imdatimi and its congeners, though 

 mostly retained as the tj-pical series, are separated by 

 M. Deshayes under the title of Tritonium, once assigned 

 to them by Miiller ; they are mostly of northern origin, 

 and it cannot be disputed that they present a particular 

 uniformity of character, stiU there is a transition from this 

 characteristic group to an extensive and varied series, 

 mostly of smaller size, inhabiting the tropical regions, 

 which are of more soUd gi-owth, of brighter colom's, and 

 of which the apertm-e is mostly distinguished by the 

 presence of a callosity or denticles. With these I include 

 Lamarck's PurpiircB sertmn, FrancoUna and lagenaria, also 

 lasus articalatm of the same author, and numerous species 

 distinguished as a new genus by JL'. Gray with the name 

 of Follia. 



A number of interesting new species have now to be 

 added, collected by Mr. Cuming at the PMlippiue Islands, 

 exhibiting an extremely interesting variety of form 

 colour and sculpture. 



Species 1. (Fig. Kiener.) 



BtcciNUM ciLiATUM. Biic. testd ovato-conicd, tenui, veii- 

 ^ tricosd, spird acuta ; anfractihus rotmidatis, transver- 



sim crelerrime striatis ; colunwlld brevi, subcontortd ; 

 aperturd umpld ; cameo vel cinereo-fuscescente, obscure 

 fasciatd, JlammuUs fuscis longitudinaUter varieyatd. 



The hairy Bcccinum. Shell ovately conical, thin, ven- 

 tricose, spire acute ; whorls rounded, transversely 

 veiy closely striated ; columella short, a little twisted, 

 aperture large ; ileshy or ashy brown, obscm-ely 

 banded, variegated longitudinally with brown flames. 



Fabeicius, O. Fauna Groenlandica p. 401. 

 Buccimim ventricosum, Kiener. 

 An Buccinum Sumphrei/sianuni ? Bennett. 



Hai. Newfoimdland ; Sowerby. Northern Seas ; Kiener. 

 Massachusetts, United States, (taken fi'oni fishes 

 caught for the most pai-t at the banks) ; Gould. 



This species I regi'ct to say I have not seen; there can 

 however be no fear of mistaking it from the striking figure 

 here copied from M. ELiener's (though probably a little 

 exaggerated) and that of Dr. Goidd in his invaluable 

 lleport of the Invertebrates of Massachusetts. Of the 

 Buccinum HmnpJtreysianuni described by Mr. Bennett in 

 the Zoological Joui'nal, specimens m-e said to have been 

 taken by some fishermen aHve in Cork Harbom-, perfectly 

 identical with some received from Newfoundland by 

 Mr. Sowerby. 



Species 2. (Mus. Cuming.) 



Buccinum Donovani. Buc. testd ovato-conicd, tenuiculd, 

 spird acuta ; anfractibus rotundatis, transversim lineatis 

 et obscure carinatis, apicem versus concentrice plicatis ; 

 columelld brevi, aperturd .mbquadrato-ovatd ; albidd 

 autfuscescente, epidermide indutd. 



Donovan's Buccinum. Shell ovately conical, rather 

 thin, spire sharp ; whorls rounded, transversely 

 lineatod and obscurely ridged, concentrically pUeated 

 towards the apex; columella short, aperture some- 

 what squarely ovate ; whitish or light brown, covered 

 with an epidermis. 



Gray, Zoology of Beechey's Voyage, p. 138. 

 Buccinum glaciate, Donovan. 



Hab. Massachusetts, United States (inhabits the Bank 

 fishing grounds) ; Govdd. 



The shell here represented, it wiU be observed, does not 

 agree very accm'ately either with the figui'es of Donovan 



December, 1846. 



