92 MITRA. CYMBA. MELO. 



outer margin. They are all West Indian marine 

 shells. 



" Mitra is a large genus, and it is believed 

 that there are three times as many species yet 

 undescribed. The mitres are natives of warm 

 climates, and few are common. The pillar-lip 

 of Mitra is parallel, with transverse folds ; the 

 base has a slope, but no canal ; the margin of 

 the columella is thin and rolled back. M, epis- 

 copalis, the bishop, is white with red spots ; the 

 columella-folds are four. (Plate 9.) M, pa- 

 paHs, the pope's-mitre, has five ; the upper 

 whorls are broken into a kind of crown. 



" In Cymha, the gondola, the spire ends in a 

 tubercle, and scarcely appears ; the aperture is 

 wide : they are very pretty shells. 



^* Melo, the melon, from the Indian Ocean, is 

 a very fine genus ; here the spire is evident. 



'^ Valuta miisica will serve as an example of 

 the genus. The animal is carnivorous. 



" Marginella is an oblong, smooth, and pol- 

 ished shell ; its peculiar character is the thickened 

 outer lip ; it is a neat, small species, prettily 

 coloured. 



'* Valvar ia is a cylindrical shell, convolute, 

 the spire nearly hidden ; the aperture straight, as 

 long as the shell. There is a fossil species found 

 in London clay. V. monUis is sometimes strung 

 for necklaces. It comes from Senegal. 



