196 CERITHIAD^.. 



terranean, than which it is a far scarcer and less diffused 

 mollusk. The shell is moderately strong, glossy, of an 

 uniform rufous colour when dead, but in living examples 

 rich brown, with the raised sculpture paler, or of a yel- 

 lowish cast. As the last turn is a little contracted, and 

 the penult rather broad, the shape is almost cylindrical 

 below ; above, the spire tapers rather quickly to a very 

 pointed apex (the upper coils, however, are generally lost 

 in such specimens as are usually found upon the shore). 

 The whorls are almost flat, never varicose, peculiarly short, 

 (so that the length of the penult is to its breadth as two to 

 five) and very numerous (we counted fifteen on rather a 

 small individual). They are covered with spiral rows of 

 very prominent rather large suborbicular concatenated 

 granules (or small tubercles rather) of which there are two 

 series of equal sized ones on each of the smaller volutions, 

 and a third intermediate set of less (but gradually en- 

 larging) ones on the lower coils. Three more spiral ribs 

 that are equally prominent with the preceding, but which 

 can scarcely be termed granular, are usually present on the 

 body-whorl : the space between the two extreme ones (the 

 last encircles the base of the canal) is somewhat broader 

 than the previous intervals, and is smooth and slightly 

 concave. In our most perfect example, the grains upon 

 the body-whorl become narrow and elongated near the 

 mouth of the shell. The basal attenuation is gradual, and 

 but little rounded. 



The mouth is very small and short, only occupying, 

 exclusive of the recurved abbreviated yet decided canal in 

 which it terminates anteriorly, about a sixth or a fifth of 

 the entire length ; it is squarish above, and broadly convex 

 below. The outer lip, whose acute edge is more or less 

 pallid or white, and is undulated by the external sculpture. 



