82 UNIVALVES. VOLUTA. 



VOLUTA. — Volute or Wreath. 



Animal — aLimax: Shell one-celled^ spiral; aperture with- 

 out a beak, and somewhat effuse; pillar twisted or plait- 

 ed, generally without lips or perforation. 



Tue one hundred and forty-four species of this genus are 

 more or less celebrated for their beauty or scarcity; and 

 are easily distinguished from all other Univalves, by their 

 having several teeth or plaits on the columella or pillar- 

 lip. In some species, the number of teeth amounts only 

 to four or five; but, in others, as in the olives, it is un- 

 limited, and frequently extends to as many as thirty or 

 forty, when they are much smaller and less articulate. 



The Volutes are generally of a smooth and polished 

 surface; among the exceptions may be mentioned the V. 

 turbinellus, V. ceramica, V. capitellum, and many of the 

 mitres. 



Among the innumerable varieties of the olives, the 

 camp or panama (V. castrensis) is most conspicuous, not 

 only for the peculiarity and beauty of its marking, but also 

 for the considerable magnitude it attains. The rest of 

 the species of the olives, as the V. oliva, V. ispidula, and 

 V. utriculus, &c. although not remarkable for their scar- 

 city, are much admired for their astonishing beauty and 

 variety. 



Some of the rarer Volutes are the produce of the land, 

 and are curiously distinguished from the rest of the genus 

 by having their mouths shaped like the human ear; such 

 are the V. auris-Midae, V. auris-Sileni, V. auris-Judae, V. 

 auris-Malchi, &c. The three first are found in the marshy 



