214 x CHAMA. 



f. 3. Regenfuss, i. t. 10. f. 48. Da Costa Elements, 



t. 7. f. 4. Favanne, t. 51. f . B 1, and B 3. Chemnitz, 



xi. t. 204. f. 1997 and 1998. Enc. Meth. t. 236. f. 1. 

 Variety B. With about six longitudinal ribs armed with crowd- 

 ed vaulted scales, and the interstices marked with two or 

 three longitudinal stria?, and towards the margin wrinkled 

 transversely. 



Chama imbricata. Chemnitz, vii. p. 122. t. 49- f. 495. 

 Bonanni Rec. 2. f. 84, and Kirch, f. 83. Lister Conch, t. 



354. f. 191. Rumphius, t. 43. f. B. Petiver Amb. t. 



7. f. 13. Gualter, t.92. f. A. Favanne, t. 51. f. B 4. 



Enc. Meth. X. 235. f. 4. 

 Variety C. With eight or nine longitudinal ribs, and transverse 

 imbricated undulated scales throughout. 

 Chama imbricata Var. Chemnitz, vii. p. 124. t. 49. f.496. 

 Lister Conch, t. 353. f. 190. Gualter, t. 92. f. G. Enc. 



Meth. t. 235. f. 2. 

 Variety D. Rather smooth, and only slightly wrinkled trans- 

 versely. 



Chama imbricata Var. Chemnitz, vii. p. 125. t. 49. f. 497. 

 Enc. Meth. t. 235. f. 3. 

 Inhabits the Red Seas. Bonanni. East Indies. Lister. Coasts 

 of Amboyna. Rumphius. Isles of Bourbon, and the Mau- 

 ritius. Chemnitz. Madagascar, and New Holland. Hum- 

 phreys. 

 This species varies very much in size, and is sometimes enor- 

 mously large and heavy ; one shell described by Linnaeus 

 weighed 532 Swedish pounds (which is equal to 498 Eng- 

 lish); and he says that the inhabitant has been known to fur- 

 nish 120 men with a day's food, and that by shutting its 

 valves suddenly it can snap a cable asunder. In Sir Joseph 

 Banks's Library there is a MS. account of the dimensions 

 of a specimen preserved at Arno's Vale, in Ireland, which 

 came from Tappanooly in Sumatra, as follows : 



Weight of one valve 285 lbs. 



Do. of the other 222 lbs. 



Total - - 507 ibs. 



The largest valve measured 4 feet 6 inches in length, 2 feet 5\ 

 inches in breadth, and 1 foot in depth. Another large shell 

 of this species forms the baptismal font at the church of St. 

 Sulpice, at Paris, and was presented by the Venetians to 

 Francis the First. The colour is dirty white, or yellowish 

 or reddish brown ; the posterior slope is flattish and cordi- 



