552 IANTHINIDiE. 



The mantle is deeply tinged with purple. The disk of 

 the foot is rather small and is margined with purple. The 

 egg-vesicles are closely set on the under side of the large 

 float. Dr. Coates describes the float of this species as 

 being convex, subcarinate above, concave beneath, straight, 

 and composed of large vesicles. The animal secretes its 

 purple dye very rapidly. We painted some paper with it 

 when fresh in 1837, and it still remains strongly coloured. 

 Mr. Jeffreys writes: "On the 23rd of July, 1827, I 

 picked up several hundreds of this shell on the sands in 

 Oxwich bay, some of them having the animal and its dye 

 sufficiently strong to stain a pocket-handkerchief. 11 He 

 also remarks that the apex of the shell is like a Sti/lifer, and 

 inflected like that of Oclostomia. 



This is an oceanic shell, occurring chiefly on those parts 

 of our coasts most exposed to the Atlantic. It has long 

 ago been taken on the shores of Cornwall, and comes into 

 the Bristol Channel, as Oxwich Bay, near Swansea, and 

 Tenby (Jeffreys), Dawlish Warren (Mrs. R. Smith). A 

 bicoloured variety has been taken by Miss Jeffreys at 

 Bude in Cornwall. Mr. Couch remarks that the occur- 

 rence of this shell on the Cornish coasts " is altogether 

 casual, and depends on a combination of wind and weather. 

 The usual season is from July to November, when the 

 wind is rough or long between west and south; under 

 which circumstances several floating animals, as Phy- 

 salia, Velella, with the lanthina, are driven on our coast 

 from the Atlantic, sometimes in considerable numbers. 11 

 Dr. Turton states that the fishermen's wives call them 

 Bullhorns. " Drifted occasionally to the western, southern, 

 and northern shores of Ireland 11 (W. Thompson). 



