134 Notice of several species of Shells. 



C. testa laevi, nitide alba, globosa ; utrinque rostrata ; labrb 

 superne crenulato ; intus fusca. 



Length 1-8. Breadth 1-13. Height 1 inch. 



Inhabits the Coast of China. 



Cabinet of the Lyceum. 



My collection. 



DESCRIPTION AND REMARKS. 



Color pure snow white, on the back, sides and base ; mi- 

 side brown ; surface smooth and highly polished. The body 

 of the shell is ventricose, and the extremities somewhat pro™ 

 duced. The outline resembles the Bulla ovum of Linne, 

 and the genus Ovula of Lamarck. I therefore conjecture 

 that the Cypraa ovulata of Lamarck, is the young of this 

 species ; for, although his description is very short, it contains 

 three characters of a young shell, viz. " Aperture very wide, 

 teeth of the columella very small, and shell thin (mince). These 

 three characters are not found in the present shell, and they 

 may serve to distinguish it from the Cypraia ovulata, should 

 these prove to be different species. Lamarck does not 

 mention the beaked extremities, nor the brown inside ; charac- 

 ters probably not apparent in the young shell. He gives the length 

 8*5 French lines, (12 to the French inch,) by which it ap- 

 pears that the present shell is more than four times as large as 

 his Cyprcea ovulata. This is a very beautiful shell, of which 

 a perfect specimen is rare, though water-worn ones are not 

 uncommon. They are of a brownish cast, and so altered in 

 appearance, as to be known only by their size and generaf 

 outline. 



