FAMILY 2. COLIMACEA. 79 
quam dentata, longitudine szpissimé superante, marginibus superné 
disjunctis ; labro aut simplici aut reflexo; columella recta, levi, 
basi integra, non truncata, verstis marginem leviter attenuata. 
The genus Bulimus was instituted by Bruguiére for the purpose of 
simplifying the miscellaneous character of the Linnzan Helices ; but in 
the formation of this new division he added so many species from other 
parts of the system, differing both in their habits and distinctive charac- 
ters, that it presented nearly as anomalous an assemblage as did the very 
genus which it was intended to relieve. Pup@e, Achatine, Lymnee, Me- 
lanie, Pyramidelle, Auricule, &c., land, freshwater and marine, were all 
regarded by Bruguiére as Bulimi; but since these genera have been from 
time to time distinguished by subsequent authors, the genus in question 
has retained a more natural and legitimate group. Still, in the present 
day, naturalists seem to differ as to the extent of its application ; Des- 
hayes, for example, takes in the Achatine and Partule, Pfeiffer the Pupe, 
neither of which arrangements is desirable. We propose to refer to this 
genus all the Bulimi of Lamarck, excepting those species which have been 
separated by De Férussac under the title of Partula; we retain all the 
heliciform varieties, such as the Bulimus pythogaster, &c., which Broderip 
suggests might be associated under the title of Helicobulimus ; and a tew 
species referred by Lamarck to Auricula, but which have been distinguished 
as a new genus by Guilding and Broderip, entitled Plekocheilus. 
The shell of Bulimus may be described as being ovate or oblong, and 
sometimes a little turriculated, the whorls being more or less in number, 
with the last always larger than the penultimate ; the aperture is entire, 
sometimes dentated within, and generally longer than it is wide; the 
margins are disjoined superiorly, and the lip is either simple or reflected ; 
the columella is straight, smooth, and entire at the base, not truncated, 
but attenuated towards the margin. 
The Bulimi are either oviparous or viviparous ; and, as a general rule, 
it may be noticed that in the shell of the former the lip is thickened and 
reflected, in the latter it is simple. It should also be mentioned, that in 
common with the Pupe and some other mollusks, their shells often 
