﻿INTRODUCTION. 
  Panama 
  Shells. 
  237 
  

  

  the 
  case 
  of 
  several 
  species 
  however, 
  errors 
  have 
  evidently 
  

   crept 
  in. 
  Either 
  the 
  species 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  derived 
  from 
  

   other 
  regions 
  and 
  were 
  given 
  to 
  the 
  travellers 
  as 
  natives, 
  or 
  the 
  

   ■describer 
  has 
  confounded 
  analogues. 
  The 
  Columbella 
  rustica, 
  

   mentioned 
  with 
  doubt, 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  a*C. 
  fuscata. 
  Cassis 
  

   testiculus, 
  which 
  inhabits 
  only 
  the 
  West 
  Indies, 
  Ranella 
  

   granifera, 
  Pyrula 
  ficoides, 
  Pyrula 
  vespertilio, 
  and 
  Solarium 
  

   granulatum, 
  which 
  inhabit 
  the 
  Indian 
  ocean, 
  are 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  

   been 
  collected 
  at 
  Acapulco. 
  Perhaps 
  the 
  ancient 
  extensive 
  

   commerce 
  between 
  Acapulco 
  and 
  the 
  Philippine 
  Islands 
  may 
  

   have 
  introduced, 
  into 
  the 
  dwellings, 
  at 
  Acapulco, 
  specimens 
  

   of 
  East 
  India 
  shells. 
  

  

  Next 
  we 
  find 
  in 
  the 
  supplement 
  to 
  Wood's 
  Index 
  several 
  

   species 
  from 
  the 
  same 
  province, 
  and 
  most 
  of 
  them 
  were 
  col- 
  

   lected 
  at 
  Panama. 
  

  

  In 
  Feb. 
  and 
  March 
  1823, 
  the 
  Coquille 
  (French) 
  was 
  at 
  

   Callao 
  and 
  Payta. 
  M. 
  Lesson 
  has 
  enumerated 
  8 
  marine 
  spe- 
  

   cies 
  of 
  shells 
  collected 
  here, 
  none 
  of 
  which 
  are 
  identical 
  with 
  

   our 
  Panama 
  shells. 
  

  

  But 
  we 
  are 
  chiefly 
  indebted 
  for 
  a 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  shells 
  

   of 
  this 
  region 
  to 
  the 
  well 
  known 
  expedition 
  of 
  Hugh 
  Cuming, 
  

   Esq. 
  This 
  celebrated 
  collector, 
  who 
  has 
  in 
  person 
  collected 
  

   one-third 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  species 
  of 
  shells 
  now 
  known 
  to 
  science, 
  

   was 
  occupied 
  in 
  the 
  years 
  1827-30 
  in 
  collecting 
  the 
  shells 
  of 
  

   this 
  province 
  and 
  of 
  adjacent 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  Polynesian 
  and 
  

   csouthwest 
  American 
  shores. 
  Besides 
  previously 
  known 
  spe- 
  

   cies, 
  400 
  new 
  species 
  were 
  collected, 
  of 
  which 
  a 
  large 
  majo- 
  

   rity 
  were 
  obtained 
  at 
  the 
  G-allapagos 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  western 
  shores 
  

   of 
  tropical 
  America. 
  His 
  explorations 
  comprised, 
  in 
  fact, 
  the 
  

   whole 
  of 
  this 
  zoological 
  province, 
  with 
  the 
  exception 
  of 
  its 
  

   northern 
  extremity. 
  The 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  new 
  species 
  was 
  

   commenced 
  by 
  the 
  London 
  Conchologists 
  in 
  the 
  Proceedings 
  

   of 
  the 
  Zoological 
  Society, 
  Feb. 
  28, 
  1832, 
  and 
  were 
  continued 
  

   for 
  about 
  four 
  years, 
  until 
  the 
  second 
  and 
  great 
  expedition 
  of 
  

  

  