CONCHOLOGY. 



»«Te(lrial and fluviatil fnails j and the delphinus, a fea 

 kiiiil, he has placed among the fea fnails. Gualtieri, like 

 Lifter, places many among the land and river fliells ; and 

 the lea fpecies he ranks as cochleae deprella:. Argcnville 

 and Davil.i place them with the cochlex ore depreflb, or 

 troclii ; and the other authors rank them indifcriminately 

 v»ith iiiails, by the names of polt-horns and lamps. Dr. 

 Gmtiin has arranged them in a dillinil genus. There 

 are many curious ipecies of them, fome of which are ex- 

 hibited in the annMed engniving. 



The third genus of fnails has a very fliort, or but little 

 produced, turbau ; and that is their only charadler, as 

 they agree in the mouth and other particulars uith the 

 rclt. Indeed this genus was formed by Da Cofta more 

 for regularity and clearnels in the method, tliau on ac- 

 count of its having any ellential diltimit ciiarafter; and 

 in nurt authors they are indjfcriminateiy intermixed with 

 all the fiiail kind. This genus is very fertile in fpecies, 

 as it comprehends the land fnails, and many others. 



TURBO, THE WRE.4.THED or TURBINATED 

 SHELLS. 



Ths fnails with a produced or lengthened clavicle or 

 turban, called turbo, form the fourth genus. Thefe have 

 generally a perfect round mouth ; the columella, or inner 

 iip, is not much faced outwards, and the body-ipire is 

 very rotund, fo that the turban is not infenfibly, but fud- 

 denly or difpropoitionately, produced froin it, as in the 

 buccina. The arrangement and names this genus bears 

 ivith lyftematifti are as follow : Lifter places them as a fec- 

 tion of the fnails ; Gualtieri calls them cochleae niarinse 

 terreltrifonnes ; Rumphius, Argenville, Davila, and Meuf- 

 cheii, cochleae lunares, or round-mouthed thails ; and Lin- 

 nxus places them under a dillinft genus of llitll-filh he 

 calls turbo. 



There is a vaft number of fpecies of this genus, and 

 jnollly very fine (liells. Among them is the gold mouth, 

 tlie filver mouth, the ferpents llcin, the Midas ear, Sec. 

 And that valuable ihcll the wentletrap is ranked by Lin- 

 nsus in this genus, under the name turbo fcalar'is. It is 

 an anecdote oi the wentletrap worthy to be tranfmitted, 

 as it fliews the value of particular fpecies at times, that, 

 ia J7j3, at the fale of commodore Lille's (liells at Lang- 

 foid's, four wentletraps were fold for fevenvy-five pounds 

 twelve ftiiilings. Elegant fpecimens of the turbinated (hells 

 are given in the copper- plates, from Seba and Knorr. 



STROMBIFORMES, or NEEDLEFORM SHELLS. 



The fifth and laft genus of fnails is called cochlea ftrom- 

 biformcs. They are very long and (lender, tapering to a 

 fharp point, refembiing the ftrombi, or needles j whence 

 thty :i\tiyAVC\tt.\ flromb^Jcrmes. Thefe fnails have a perfcft. 

 round mouth, well defined or bordered, by which parti- 

 cular .-.lone they are immediately dillingiiilhed frorn the 

 iirombi, or needles, which is a Ipecies (till more (lender 

 and dellcatt ; but the -mouths of the ttrombi are long, 

 and have a very thick columella belide them, ere£t, and 

 fomewliat twirled ; and many kinds are prolonged into a 

 wry gutter, turning backwards, like the mouth of a (baj, 

 cr other flat. fi(h The firlt, or body-whirl or fpire, is 

 not more than proportionably fuelled, lb that the whole 

 fr.ell gradually tapers to a iharp point. Lifter, who is 

 critically nietiiodical, ha<; arranged this genus as fnails 

 with a very long and (lender turban. Rumphius inter- 

 mixes them, as does Argenville, Gualtieri, and Davila, 

 who call them turbo or iliombus. Da Colta places i!ie 

 Itrombi amongft the buccina. Meufchen intermixes them ; 

 and Linnjeus ranks them in his genus turbo. Seba di- 

 vides them into two beautiful dalles, as (hewn in the an- 

 nexed engraving. 



A foff.l kind is found in t!ie fand-pits at Woolwich, in 

 Kent, in immenie quantities, which leems to be a ipecies 

 yet Uhdlicovered in a living or recent (late from the iea. 

 i)a Colta calls it cochleas llrombiformis, clavata, from 

 one inch and a half to two inches long, wriivkled, or llri- 



ated the whole run of the fpii-es ; and each fnij'e is^ aiCo 

 circularly let with a row of deprelfions, like the t:iaik» &f 

 heads of nails. 



BUCCINUM, THE WHELK.. 



The fifteenth family of univalves is the b;;ccina ot- 

 vvhelks. It is chiefly this family that has created fo many 

 diil'tiences among writers on conchology. The immenie 

 quantity of fpecies it contains, and the m-iny fubordin::re 

 charadters of them ; which fubcrdinate chnraclers nioft 

 authors having attended to, and made theiv. efi'ential'in- 

 ftead of fuborclinate, has produced all the perplexity and 

 confufion we meet with relative to this family. The er- 

 ror of authors in fetting afide the figure of the mouth, 

 and framing their genera from fuhordinate charajSers,.!? 

 not more vifible in any family of the teitaceous animals, 

 than in this. For the (hells called buccina by th^ feveral 

 conchologifts, inftead of being (iiuilar mout'ied (lisHs, is a 

 jumble of feveral families phctd confufediy together : and 

 Lilter, though erroneous in (bme particulars, by ranging 

 many kinds not truly buccina, feeras, with Davila, to be 

 the only authors who have arranged this family with any 

 propriety or order. 



Argenville, after criticifing Lifter, makes the elTential 

 character of buccina to be a broad and very lengthened 

 mouth ; but he nowhere dirtinguiflies the feveral genera, 

 and therefore it becomes a fcene of confufion. Davila, 

 wlio (ollows and corrects his method, defines them to have 

 a large oblong aperture, and divides them into four ge- 

 nera ; but the firlt genus which he calls whole-mouthed, 

 without a tail or gutter, are not buccina, for their mouth 

 is perfectly circunifcribed or bordered : fuch are the Mi- 

 das's ear, and others ; for thefe (liells, though in fliape 

 and appearance refembiing buccina, yet their mouth be- 

 ing perfedlly circumfcrilied or bordered, and devoid of 

 glitter or beak, ftrongly feparates them. Linna;us defines 

 the buccina extremely well by an oval aperture ending in 

 a gutter; but his lelettions of them are rather perplexed. 

 1 he other authors, as Buonanni, Rumphius, &c. give no 

 charafter for buccina, but range fliells asfuch, only as., 

 their fancy furmifes. 



Da Cofta defines ail buccina to be (hells vphbfe mouths 

 are an oblong or very lengthened oval, the upper part 

 whereof is produced or lengthened into a gutter or fiigi-.t 

 beak : all other chara6ters are fubordinate, and ferve 

 only to conftitute the different tribes cf the fame family. 

 He therefore divides them into fix genera, viz. i. Buccina 

 canaliculata, or guttered whelks; fo called, becaufe the 

 top of t'>e mouth prolongs itfelf into a nearly flrait cy- 

 lindric gutter, and the inner or columella lip is always 

 extremely fmooth. The fpecies of this genus are very 

 numerous. Tlie varieties of work and (hape, which are 

 only fubordinate characters, are amazing. The ran.k 

 the(e guttered buccina hold in fyliematical authors, is as 

 follows : Lifter's (edlion xiv. of his fourth book, is, for the 

 greater part, of this genus. Gualtieri places thofe with 

 (hort clavicles or turbans, among what he calls cochleae 

 pyriformes ; and thofe with produced turbans l>e calls 

 buccina. Davila makes them tiie third genus of buccina, 

 which he calls buccina whofe mouths terminate in'ajiiort 

 tail. Linnaeus intermixes them among his feveral ti;C'1ions';' 

 and the other authors place them inditrcrently, and only 

 as buccina. . ■ 



2. Buccina recuri'irqfira f.-ve plaglofiama, buccina hh 

 afice qtiiifi abfcijfo, rojfro •vel canaliciilo part'ulo recmva, & 

 exlrorjio/i forreSlo: Wry-inouthed whelks. The top of 

 the mc uth ot this genus is not (>ro!onged or extended for- 

 waid, but has a notch or crocked gutter, which turns 

 outwards on the back, and exa6tly lelirmbles the mouth 

 of a fole or other flat fi(h. The fpecies of this genus are 

 very numerous ; and the varieties of their fhapes and 

 works art vaftly diverfified. Lifter and Davila have made 

 a feparate gciius of thefe whelks, (oiely on account of this 

 charaiSier. Lifter calls them wlielks whofe tops are ftiorr, 

 or do not extend beyond the mouth. Davila makes thc-m 



hii 



