Ml 



MKLANOPSIS. 



Mi:i,\N'OURH<F.A. 



bo rwpectine time which inhabit the sea. He haa, he say*, collected 

 UMX beta, and U thui able to eatimate approxitnatively the temper- 

 ature proper to each of the principal tertiary epoch*. 



JtfefoM/uu, FVr.. and Pirena, Lam., hare the following generic 

 character! : Animal with a proboacidifonn muzxle and two con- 

 tractile teotaeula, which are conical, annulnted, and each with an 

 oculatvd peduncle at their external baw ; foot attached to the neck, 

 very abort, oral, angular on each aide anteriorly ; renpiratory orifice in 

 the gutter formed by the union of the mantle with the body. Oper- 

 culum horny, mibepiral. 



Shell with an epidermis, elongated, fusiform or couicocylimlricnl, 

 with a pointed lunimit ; spire consisting of from 8 to 15 whorls, the 

 last often forming two-thirds of the shell ; aperture, oval, oblong ; 

 eolumrlla twiated, aolid, callous, truncated at its base, separated from 

 the external border by a sinus, the callosity prolonging itself on the 

 convexity of the penultimate whorl, forming a gutter backwards ; 

 sometimes a sinus at the posterior part of the right lip. 



m. A single sinus at the external border of the aperture, separating 

 it from the columella. (Genus JiWoMopnt, Lam.) 



Ex. if. pnmta (Jf. larigata, Lam. ; Mtlania buccinoidea, Oliv. ; 

 kccuioid(a, Fir.). 



Mrlanofia prtenta. 



ft Two distinct sinuses at the external border of the aperture, one 

 which separates it from the columella, the other situated near the 

 union of this border with the penultimate whorl. 



Kx., if. atra (Pirena tcrebraiit, Lam.; Strombtu ater, Lino.). 



It is found at Madagascar. 



Uelanoptit atra. 



fouil MtlanoiMet- Mr. G. B. Sowerby, who also includes the 

 genera Milano/ua and Pirena under the first generic appellation, says, 

 " We are not aware that any of the Mrlano/nuld aro marine, for all 

 the recent specie* occur either in rircr* or lake*, ami yet most of the 

 foasil specie* are found in bed* that ore considered by geologist* (in 

 this country) to be of marine formation. We know not what degree 

 of credit i* to be given to the assertion of a celebrated author, ' that 

 the greater number of the genera of the Pectinibranchia might 

 formerly hare contained specie* peculiar to river* and lakes as well 

 a* to the sea,' but this we do know, that wherever the fossil Melanop- 

 ndt* are found, they are accompanied by many other specie* of genera 

 that at present only live in fresh -water ; and therefore we think they 

 ought to be considered a* characteristic of the formation in which 

 they occur." 



M. Deahayes, in hi* ' Tables,' make* the number of living specie* of 

 tldanofifii ten, of fossil specie* (tertiary) eleven, and note* Uclanop- 

 *u btutixoitUa (prttrwa), if. Dufourd, M. rot'ata, if. nodota, U. 

 atiniarit, if. turn-fa, a* species occurring both living and foaul (ter- 

 tiary). He a**ign* a* habitation* to the latter, Asia, Spain, Greece, 

 and Laybach. of Pirena he make* the number of living specie* 

 three, and of fo*il (tertiary) two. In the last edition of Lamarck, M. 

 Deahaye* give* nine recent upecie*, and of these he notice* M. cottata, 



if. prarota, if. nodon, M. Dtfourti, and M. acicularU (t) (M. 

 latut, Sow., 'Min. Con.'), a* occurring in a fossil state, observing that 

 it U to be presumed that the specif* found foeail at Dax is to be 

 distinguished from .V. hufaurri, which occur* in a foasil state in the 

 lale of Rhode*. The number of specie* which are foesil only he 

 make* seven. The number of recent species of Pirena he give* a* 

 four, but record* none a* fossil only. Under Pirena lerebralii (if. 

 atra) is a reference to Fe'rassac'a Foasil Mclanoptidei pi. 2, f. 7, &C. 



Dr. Fitton record* three specie* with a query, two under the name* 

 of if. attenuata (?) and if. tricarinala (?), in the Weald Clay (Dorset), 

 and Hastings Sand (Sunex), and the third, without a name, in the 

 Purbeck Beds (Bucks). 



Woodward give* 20 recent species and 25 fossil The Utter are all 

 K iif. 



MELflUORRH(EA, a genus of Plant* belonging to the natural 

 order Anacardiaeecc, to called from the brown fluid with which every 

 part of the principal species abounds turning black upon exposure to 

 the air. 



if. utitala, familiarly known as the Birraege Varnish-Tree, or 

 Theetsee, wa* not described by botanist* until discovered by Dr. 

 Wallich, and figured in his splendid work ' Planto Asiatics Rariore*,' 

 t. 11 and 12. The tribe to which it belong* abound* in plant* yield- 

 ing a blackish, acrid, and resinous juice used for varnishing and other 

 such purposes, as the Marking Nut and the Japan Varnish-Tree. 

 This tree was first seen near Prome, and U found in different parts of 

 Binna and along the coast from Tenasserim to Tavoy, extending 

 from the latter in 14 to 25" N. lat, as Dr. Wallich ban identified it 

 with the Kheu or Varnish-Tree of Munipoor, a principality in Hindu- 

 stan, bordering on the north-east frontier district* of Silhet and 

 Tippcra. It grows especially at Kubbu, an extensive valley elevated 

 about 500 feet above the plains of Bengal, and 200 miles from the 

 nearest sea-shore. There it attains ita greatest size, some, and those 

 not the largest, having clear stem* of 42 feet to the first branch, with 

 a circumference near the ground of 13 feet. It forms extensive 

 forest*, and is associated with the two staple timber-trees of conti- 

 nental India, Teak and Saul (Tectona grandit and Shorea robtuta), 

 especially the latter, and also with the gigantic Wood-Oil Tree, a 

 specie* of Dipterocarpnt. 



The Theetsee forms a large tree, with the habit of Scmecarput, and 

 abounds in every part with a viscid ferruginous juice, which quickly 

 become* black by the contact of the atmosphere. Its leaves are large, 

 coriaceous, simple, very entire, and deciduous. The panicles of flowers 

 are axillary, oblong; those of the fruit simple and lax, with very 

 large rufous and finally ferruginous involucres. It sheds its leave* in 

 November, and continues naked until the mouth of May, during 

 which period it produces its flowers and fruit During the rainy 

 season, which last* for five months, from the middle of May until the 

 end of October, it is in full foliage. 



BlrnwM VarnUh.Trcc (Ifelanorrhva vtiiala). A branch with leave*. 



At Prome a considerable quantity of varnish is extracted 

 from this tree, but very little at Martaban. It i* collected 

 by inserting a pointed joint of a bamboo, which ia closed at the 



