CYPR^IDiE. 399 



and assiduous fellow-labourer, Mr. Robert Dawson_, of 

 Cruden, wlio dredged it off Kinnaird^'s Head ; it is five 

 lines and a half in length. 



Synonyms : P. reticulata, Brown, Fusus decussatus, 

 Couthouy (not P. decussata of Lamarck, which is a 

 Grignon fossil), and Defrancia Woodiana, Moller. 

 American specimens are much smaller than oui's, as is 

 also the case with Purpura lapillus and Buccinum un- 

 datum. 



Family XXXI. CYPE.^ID.E, {Cyprceadce) 

 Fleming. 



Body oval or oblong : mantle expanded over the back of 

 the shell in the form of two lobes (one on each side) : pcdlicd 

 ^w56 projecting or recurved: head furnished with a retractile 

 proboscis or a contractile snout : tentacles cylindrical or awl- 

 shaped : eyes on short stalks, which are conjoined with the 

 tentacles, as in the last family : foot tongue-shaped, double- 

 edged in front, weg e -shaped or bluntly pointed behind : 

 gills arranged in a single plume : odontophore long, partly 

 contained in the visceral cavity ; rhachis 1-cusped ; uncini 

 3-cusped. Sexes distinct. 



Shell having invariably an external spire in the young 

 state : spire short, usually concealed in the adult ; axis nearly 

 horizontal : mouth very long : camd short and somewhat 

 truncated : no epidermis, nor any operculimi. 



These are animal-eaters, and are said to subsist prin- 

 cipally on zoophytes. Individuals of the same species 

 vary greatly in size ; the young, before the outer lip is 

 formed, has been in many cases considered a distinct 

 species. 



