FAMILY 6. TURBINACEA. 159 
PHORUS, De Montford. 
Testa orbicularis, subconica, spira obtusa, anfractibus regularibus, peri- 
pheria tubulis cavis interdum ornata, lapidum aut conchyliorum 
frustis plus minusve agglutinatis ; facie inferna concaviuscula, gra- 
nosa aut lamellosa; umbilico amplo, profundo, sepé etate occul- 
tato ; apertura depressa, marginibus disjunctis, labro simplici, acuto. 
Operculum corneum, tenue, ovale. 
It is remarkable that a group of mollusks of such ‘decided importance 
as the present should have been so long neglected by naturalists ; the 
genus Phorus was introduced many years since by De Montford in the 
attempt which he made in his ‘ Conchiliologie Systématique’ to establish 
a new generic distribution of shells; and it may be deservedly followed. 
We have little acquaintance with the nature or anatomy of the Phori, but 
can sufficiently estimate the remarkable character which the shells exhibit 
to rest their claim upon that alone to the rank of a genus. The character 
we allude to is a property which this mollusk possesses of agglutinating 
to the outer surface of its shell any fragments of stones, shells, corals 
or other marine debris that it happens to be in contact with, and which 
become so firmly attached that they cannot be separated without vio- 
- lence. The well-known Carrier Trochus, the type of the genus, was for 
a long time the only species of Phorus known* ; when others even were 
discovered, they were only regarded as varieties of the same; and this 
agglutinating property was not considered of sufficient importance to 
warrant its adoption. But the distinction which De Montford assigned 
* We agree with De Montford in selecting the Carrier Trochus for the formation of a 
genus, but do not at present see any necessity for altering the situation of it in the natural 
system; the structure and formation of the shell, as well as the presence of an operculum, 
sufficiently indicate that it is allied to the true Trrochi, and not to the Calyptree, as supposed 
by Gray. 
