312 MANUAL OF THE MOLLUSCA. 



orifices fringed ; foot large, broadly tongue-shaped, compressed; palpi long 

 pointed ; gills recumbent, inner laminte free, dorsal border wide. 



Distr. 20 sp. W. Indies, Red Sea, India, Madagascar, Japan; Aus- 

 tralia, Tasmania, Peru. 



Fossil, 30 sp. Eocene — . U. States, Europe. 



Semele, Schumacher, 1817. 



Etym. Semele, in Greek myth, the mother of Bacchus. 



Syn. Amphidesma, Lam. 1818.* Type, S. reticulata, PL XXI. fig. 11. 



Shell rounded, sub-equilateral, beaks turned forwards ; posterior side 

 slightly folded; hinge-teeth 2.2, laterals elongated, distinct in the right 

 valve ; external ligament short, cartilage internal, long, oblique ; paUial sinus 

 deep, rounded. 



Distr. 40 sp. W. Indies, Brazil, India, China, Australia, Peru. 



Fossil, 10 sp. Eocene — . U. States, Europe. 



Sub-genera. Cumingia, G. Sowerby. C. lameUosa, PL XXI. fig. 12. 

 Shell slightly attenuated and gaping behind, lamellated concentrically ; car- 

 tilage-process prominent; paUial sinus very wide. Distr. 10 sp. In sponges, 

 sand, and the fissures of rocks, — 7 fathoms. W. Indies, India, Australia, 

 W. America. Fossil, Miocene — . Wilmington, N. Carolina. 



Syndosimja, Recluz. Syn. Abra, Leach MS. Erycina (part) Lam. 

 ISOS.f Type, S. alba, PL XXI. fig. 13. Shell small, oval, white and 

 shining ; posterior side shortest ; umbones directed backwards ; cartilage- 

 process oblique ; hinge-teeth minute or obsolete, laterals distinct ; pallial 

 sinus wide and shallow. Animal with the mantle open, fringed; siphons 

 long, slender, diverging, anal shortest, orifices plain; foot large, tongue- 

 shaped, pointed ; palpi triangular, nearly as large as the gills ; branchise un- 

 equal, triangular. Distr. Norway, Brit. Medit. Black Sea, India. The sp. 

 are few, and mostly boreal, ranging from the laminarian zone to 180 fms. 

 {Forbes) They live buried in sand and mud, but when confined are able to 

 creep up the sides of the vessel with their foot. {Boxichard.) Fossil, 6 sp. 

 Eocene — . Brit. France. 



Scrobicularia, Schumacher. Syn. Trigonella (part) Da Costa (not L.) 

 Ligula (part). Mont. "Le Lavignon" (Eeaumur) Cuv. Listera, Turt. 

 (not R. Brown.) Lutricola, Bl. Mactromya, D'Orb. (not Ag.) Type, S. 

 piperata (Belon) Gmelin, PL XXI. fig. 14. (See p. 60.) Shell oval, com- 

 pressed, thin ; sub-equi-lateral ; ligament external, slight ; cartilage-pit shal- 



* The name Amphi-desma, as employed by Lamarck, included species of Semele, 

 Loripes, Syndosmya, Mesodesma, Thracia, Lyonsia, and Kellia; in addition to which 

 it has since been applied to some Oolitic Myacites. 



+ The name Erycina was originally appplied by Lamarck to a number of minute 

 fossil shells, including s^. of Syndosmya, Venus, Lucina, Tellina, Astarfe,and Kellia. 

 In 1808 Fabricius employed it for a well-known gioup of insects. 



