BIVALVES——TELLINA. 23 
TELLINA.—TELLEN. 
DESCRIPTION OF PLATE VI. 
Dw. L—Fig. 1. T. virgata. 
Dw. Ii —Fig. 4. TT. Ferroensis Drv. II. —Fig. 9. Ts inequivalvis. 
Diy. Il.—Fig. 2. T. foliacea. Dry. I1].—Fig. 6. T. flexuosa. 
Fig. 3. T. rostrata. Fig. 7. T. crassa. 
Fig. 5. T. tenuis. Fig. 8. T. cornea. 
Shell bivalve, generally sloping on one side: in the fore part of one 
valve there is a convex, and in the other a concave fold; hinge 
with usually three teeth, the lateral smooth in one valve. 
OF this genus there are eighty-one species. Of all 
the different genera of Bivalves, there are none, 
except the Venus, which can vie with the Tellina in 
beauty, variety, or number. 
The usual form of the Telling is broad at one end, 
and gradually tapering towards the other; insome cases 
the pointed termination of the shell forms a beak, as 
in the T. rostrata, T. rufescens, &c. Others, on the 
contrary, are more orbicular, as the T, scobinata, &c. 
and some, as the T. gari, &c. are nearly allied to 
several species of the genus Solen, for which they 
are sometimes mistaken; however, from the more 
acute termination of the beak in the Tellinz, the dif- 
ference may be easily distinguished. The hinge of 
the Tellina will also assist in removing any doubt that 
may have originated from an inaccurate examination 
of the shell; for it is usually furnished with three 
teeth, the middle one often cleft, and the lateral teeth 
