the Boat and Melon Volutes. 277 



15. Cymbium {Melo) Miltonis, Gray, in Griffith's Cuvier's 

 Animal Kingdom, pi. 29; Conch. Icon. pi. 16. 



Melo cylindratus, Broderip. 



Hah. Swan River. 



A well-marked species both in form and colour. The upper 

 part of the whorls is attenuately appressed from their manner of 

 dropping more than usual in coiling, and it follows that the 

 scales have an arched decumbent growth, leaving the spire pro- 

 duced and comparatively erect. The painting is an elaborate 

 network shaded into bands, and of a uniform purple-chestnut 

 or chocolate colour, the columella being bright orange. 



16. Cymbium (Melo) indicum, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. p. 3467 ; 

 Conch. Icon. pi. 17. f. 9 « and pi. 18. f. 9 b. 



Valuta indica, Graelin. 

 Melo indica, Broderip. 

 Valuta melo, Ann. du Mus. 

 Cymbium melo, Menke. 



Hab. Eastern Seas. 



The principal characteristic of this well-known species is that 

 the shell is neither coronated nor channelled, the upper portion 

 of the whorls being so closely slopingly contracted as almost or 

 altogether to cover the spire. 



17. Cymbium (Melo) tessellatum, Lamarck, Anim. sans Vert, 

 vol. X. p. 377; Conch. Icon. pi. 18. f. a, b, c. 



Valuta tessellata, Lamarck. 

 Melo tessellatus, Broderip. 



Hab. Eastern Seas. 



In colour and marking, this species resembles C. indicum, but 

 it is distinguished from it by a very characteristic corona of 

 decumbent scales. 



Geographical Distribution. 



The geographical distribution of the Cyrnbia is peculiar. Of 

 the Boats, seven belong exclusively to the shores of West Africa, 

 opposite the Canary Islands ; and the remaining one, C. Olla, 

 borders on that locality in the Western Mediterranean, with a 

 more northerly range, reaching the coast of Spain. Of the 

 Melons, six are natives of the Indian Ocean and Eastern Seas, 

 ranging probably to North Australia; and three are truly 

 Australian. There are no Cymbia in the waters of the Western 

 Hemisphere. 



