74 The Williams Collection of Shells 



muricata from the Moluccas, of which Mr. Sowerby 

 avers that the British Museum has none as fine and 

 perfect as this. 



There are recent acquisitions of fossil Turritel- 

 lidae and a goodly number of Caecidae, Eulimidae, 

 Pyramidellidae, Turbonillidae, Solariidae, and 

 Ianthinidae. They are not passed by because they 

 merit less praise than others, for they also have received 

 patient attention as shown in forty-six species here of 

 the tiny Eulimas, alone! It is the Scalidae that 

 caught the popular fancy and once commanded such 

 fabulous prices, while even yet some bring their weight 

 in gold. These expensive little specimens are here, 

 Scala pallasi, S. lineata, several of the far-famed Scala 

 pretiosa, and others, beside their lesser kin. 



There is a long procession of Cerithiidae, a revela- 

 tion of the number of species and the variety of form 

 and coloring to be found in this family. They accom- 

 modate themselves to strange modes of living, but it is 

 not easy to believe that this odd and striking shell, la- 

 belled "Bythoceras iridescens, Moore, dredged in 700 

 feet in Lake Tanganyika," is (as its anatomy proves) 

 a scion of the Cerithium stock. It is exceedingly rare, 

 and another rare form here is Potamides (Terebralia) 

 gourmyi. 



Many families, important in themselves, but monot- 

 onous in lists, are passed by, although they include such 

 groups as the Melaniidae, Littorinidae, Ampullari- 



