97 
CARDITA tuberculata. 
TAB. CXLIII. 
Spec. Cuar. Heartshaped, longitudinally radiated, 
radii tuberculated ; valves equal, laterally com- 
pressed, longitudinally subcarinate, one side 
semilobate, the other nearly flat, beaks much 
incurved. 
Tae length, breadth, and depth are in the proportion 
of 5. 4. and 3.; the radii are not deep,—they are nume- 
rous, and in sets of three or four, with more enlarged 
and conspicuous ones intervening. 
The micaceous sandy strata dug through to make the 
Devizes canal, has afforded some curious casts and im- 
pressions of shells. The present was among others col- 
lected by the indefatigable and discerning Mrs. Gent, 
who has obligingly lent me the rarities of her collection 
to draw. The beauty of this specimen, and the tender 
adherence of the sand, infering the probability of time 
obliterating the greatest beauty of its ornamental striez, 
I considered it a treat to preserve a resemblance of it, as 
every touch brings away some grains. It is rather 
obliquely compressed, as if by accident, yet it appears 
to be a compressed shell with elegant curved beaks. 
Should the same occur in greater perfection, we may 
possibly discover with certainty all its characters, in the 
mean time the utility of publishing it now will be appre_ 
ciated by the information, which bids fair to lead the 
attention and elicit discovery. 
