articles of the conchyliological cabinet, and is in- 
deed confidered, when in its complete and unble- 
mifhed ftate, as one of the cimelia of modern mu- 
feums. It is, however, not often that fpecimens 
can be obtained which have not fuffered fome acci- 
dental injuries, efpecially thofe which have attained 
their full fize. The Venus Dione is a native of 
the American feas, and was firft defcribed and fi- 
gured by Bonanni? Its general colour is a very pale 
or whitifh pink; each valve is marked externally 
by a great number of fharpened concentric zones or 
prominent ribs: the hinder or flattened part is of a 
purple tinge, more or lefs deep in different indivi- 
duals, and is ciliated on each fide with a row of 
curved fpines, fo as to give the fhell, when viewed 
in a tranfverfe direction, an appearance not ill re- 
fembling that of an eye, or even of the ringent 
mouth of a quadruped. 
As the genus to which it belongs is extremely 
extenfive, and contains feveral fpecies of uncommon 
beauty, it has therefore received a name appropri- 
.ated to the elegance of its form. - 
The birth of the younger Dione or Venus from 
the fea has fo often been commemorated by the 
poets of antiquity, that it would be fuperfluous to 
relate what muft be univerfally known. It may be 
fufficient therefore to quote on this fubject the ele- 
gant epigram of Aufonius on the celebrated picture 
of Venus anadyomene by the hand of Apelles. 
* Emerfam pelagi nuper genialibus undis 
Cyprin, Apellei cerne laboris opus. 
Ut 
