96 UNIVALVES. — BUCCINUM. 



Nassa — Ribbed. Fusca — Tawny. 



Nucea — Nut. 



Division X. — Shell spinous, or rugged and nodulous. 



Turbinellus — Turbinated. Muricata — Prickly. 



Capitellum — Ridged. Ceramica — Horned. 



Rhinoceros — Rhinoceros. Globosa — Globose. 



Division XI. — Shell with a somewhat produced 



BEAK. 



Pyrum — Pear-shaped. Gravis — Solid. 



Scolymus — Artichoke. 



BUCCINUM.— Whelk. 



Animal — a Limax: Shell univalve, spiral, gibbous, aperture 

 ovate, terminating in a short canal, leaning to the right, 

 with a retuse beak or projection ; pillar-lip expanded. 

 THIS genus comprises one hundred and sixty-one spe- 

 cies, which are remarkable for their great beauty and va- 

 riety. The Buccinum may be distinguished from the G. 

 murex, (which it closely resembles), by its beak or canal 

 being usually much shorter, and inclining to the right in- 

 stead of the left; it is also generally more gibbous, which 

 is particularly the case with those species called tuns and 

 helmets. The tuns are for the most part of a brittle and 

 light fabric, and although some of them grow to a large 

 size, yet even then they retain their characteristic fragility 

 and thinness. 



The B. dolium, B. perdix, and the B. galea are the most 

 common species; the latter of which sometimes exceeds 

 ten inches in diameter. 



