Mr. Swainson on Melania Setosa. 401 



the formation of these spines, &c. — but as he does not here im- 

 peach the accuracy of my previous description, I shall pass over 

 this part of liis remarks ; except, indeed, that passage, wherein 

 he states that the spines of Neritina corona. Lam., lilie those of 

 Melania setosa, are tubular. How different this is from the real 

 fact, need not be told to Conchologists ; but for the information of 

 such as do not possess this scarce shell, I shall just state how its 

 spines have been described by the greatest naturalists who have 

 written on the subject. 



LiNN^us. Nerita corona. N. testae anfractibus spinis coronatis, 

 labiis edentulis. Mus. Lud. Ulr. p. 676. n. 387.* and again, 

 Spince anfractuum cylindricoe, decern, rectce, aliquot lineis 

 longce. 



MuLLER. Nerita testa dilatata convexa striata fusca : aculeis lon- 

 gis nigris. Hist. verm. 2. p. 197. 



Chemnitz. Testa imperforata, epidermide nigerriraa superin- 

 duta, verticc intruso, corona spinarum valde elongatarum 

 cincta, labio acuto exciso, labio piano edentulo. Conch. 

 Cab. 9. p. 68. 



Gmelin. Testa minuta, interdum tota nigra, spinis longioribus 

 vel brevioribus armata extrinsecus tenuiter striata : spirae 

 anfractu primo magno, reliquis convexis. Sys. Nat. 1. 

 pt. 6. p. 3676. n. 26. 



Lahauck. Neritina corona. Testa globoso-oblonga, striata, ni- 

 gr3,; ultimo anfractu superne spinis longis erectis coronato ; 

 apice eroso ; aperturS, alb^ labio denticulate. Hist. Nat 

 des Animaux sans vertebres, vol.6, p. 2. p. 185. n. 8. 



Had these spines been really tubular, it is almost incredible that 

 such a remarkable structure should have been overlooked by each, 

 and all of these eminent writers. I could add many other analo- 

 gies to those pointed out by Mr. Gray, and equally remote from 

 the question at issue — namely the peculiar structure of Melania 

 setosa : for, admitting all these analogical resemblances to exist, the 



putHwill beamusr^d by many more of these important discoveries, in Mr. Gray's 

 conchological axioinx. 



Vor.. r. 2d 



