118 EDIBLE BRITISH MOLLUSCA. 



close examination I observed, besides those from the 

 neighbouring seas, species from distant countries, for 

 example, Gonus textiles. Triton femorale, Meleagrina 

 margaritifera (Pearl- Oyster), species only found in the 

 Indian and Eastern Seas. I think, therefore, that this 

 may be regarded as part of a Natural History collection. 

 Assuming the truth of this conjecture, its antiquity is 

 without precedent. Did the original proprietor form 

 one of a Natural History Society at Pompeii, of which 

 the distinguished Naturalist, Pliny, who perished at 

 Pompeii, was a member ? It would also be curious, in 

 these days of research for priority of names, to know 

 how they were described. Such a discovery might 

 disturb existing nomenclature, and increase the per- 

 plexity already felt in naming collections. But laying 

 aside fanciful conjectures, the collection is further 

 instructive from the condition and perfect preservation 

 in which the specimens are found, after an interment 

 of nearly 1800 years." 



The scallop is figured on the coins of Saguntum, 

 which are of Phoenician time, the dolphin being on one 

 side, with the letters S.A.G. w. under, and the scallop 

 on the reverse ; and Florez, in his ' Medallas de Espana/ 

 Parte 2, 1728, says of these coins, "These (the dol- 

 phin and the scallop shell) allude to Neptune and 

 Venus, for as the dolphin is sacred to Neptune, so is 

 the shell to Venus,* as the daughter of the sea, and 

 also for the pearls it engenders, applied to the adorn- 

 ment of women. This shell is most appropriate for 

 the impress of a maritime city, from the utility enclosed 

 within it, and its application to diverse uses, either from 

 its seed for jewels, or as a delicacy for the table, for the 



* ' Faveas concha Cypria vecta tua/ Tibullus, lib. iii. El. 3, &c. 



