BUCCINUM. 



367 



Fit;. 031. 



B. undatum. 



one lialf the length of the shell, white witlihi, or more frequently of 

 a brilliant golden-yellow ; minute stria;, corresponding to the prom- 

 inent lines without, extend some distance within the mouth, and 

 produce faint crenulations of the outer 

 lip ; this is somewhat everted, and arched 

 so as often to produce a conspicuous 

 notch at about its posterior third ; colu- 

 mella broadly overlaid with callus, some- 

 what flattened, and twisted at its lower 

 portion ; not extending so far as the lip 

 on the opposite side of the canal. Usual 

 length, three inches ; breadth, one and 

 nine tenths inches. 



It is occasionally found on some of the 

 rocky bars in Boston Harbor, particularly 

 Faun Bar, of good size and beauty. On 

 the sandy beaches it is thrown up, in a 

 worn state. Still farther eastward it be- 

 comes abundant ; and the finest I have 

 ever seen were sent to me by Dr. Mighels, 

 from the vicinity of Portland. I am not aware that it is found south 

 of Cape Cod. Gull Island (^Sniith) ; whole coast of New England 

 and Canada. 



I have given a description of our B. undatum, as it most com- 

 monly appears with us. It differs, however, in several points from 

 the English shells, as figured and described by Pennant and others. 

 It is more ventricose, the whorls are one or two less in number ; it 

 is not found of so large a size, British specimens being mentioned 

 four or five inches long, while the largest I have seen is only three 

 inches and a half ; the striation is far more conspicuous, and the 

 remarkable projection of the columella beyond the rest of the shell, 

 shown in foreign specimens, is not found in ours ; the aperture is 

 proportionally broader, and the ribs or folds less distinct. Its gol- 

 den mouth, too, which is not found in foreign shells, renders it a 

 beautiful shell. In truth, it much more nearly resembles Pennant's 

 B. striatum (" Brit. Zool." pi. 74) ; but Turton states that, in the 

 B. striatum (which is now regarded as a variety of B. undatmn), 

 the shell is much thinner than the true B. undatum, which is not 

 the case in our shell. 



Kiener observes that this species is very variable in size ; also in 

 its form, which is more or less inflated, sometimes the folds, then 



