229 



VOLUTID^E. 



VOLUTION. 



1230 



Shell turreted, smooth, white, spotted with bright red; pillar four- 

 plaited ; outer lip denticulated at its lower part ; epidermis thin. It 

 is found in East Indian seas and islands of the South Sea, Tongataboo. 



M. adusta, has the shell fusiform, turreted, albido-lutescent, orna- 

 mented with longitudinal rufous-brown spots ; the striae transverse, 

 impressed, rather remote, and dotted; the sutures orenulate; the 

 pillar five-plaited. It is found at Timor, Vanikoro. 



There are at least two varieties. 



Mitra adutta, seen from below. (' Astrolabe.*) 



if. con-agata. The shell is ovate-fusiform, longitudinally plicated, 

 transversely rugous, whitiah ; bands and belts brown ; whorls angu- 

 lated above ; the last whorls with a submuricated angle; pillar four- 

 plaited. It is found in the Indian Ocean and New Guinea. 



JJiti'a corrugata, ('Astrolabe.') 



The species have been found at depths varying from the surface to 

 seventeen fathoms, on reefs, sandy mud, and sands. The species are 

 all inhabitants of warm countries. 



Imbricaria and Cylindra are sub-genera of Mitra. 



Voli'aria has the shell cylindrical, convolute; spire minute ; aperture 

 long and narrow; columella with 3 oblique plaits in front. The 

 species, five in number, are all fossil. 



Marginclla has the shell smooth, bright ; spire short or concealed ; 

 aperture truncated in front ; columella plaited ; outer lip (of adult) 

 with a thickened margin. Animal similar to Cyprcea. 



Olira, which is sometimes referred to Buccinida, has the following 

 characters : Animal involved, compressed, with a small head termi- 

 nated by a proboscis ; tentacles approximated, enlarged at their base 

 and subulate at their extremity, carrying the eyes on small convexities 

 about their middle part externally ; foot very large, oblong, and slit 

 transversely anteriorly ; mantle with a single lateral lobe covering the 

 shell in great part, with two tongue-like processes at the side of the 

 branchial opening, and forming in front a very elongated siphon ; a 

 single branchial pectination; male organ very voluminous, on the 

 anterior part of the right side. Operculum horny, elongated, very 

 small, with a marginal apex. 



M. Rang, whose descriptions we have selected, states that the genus 

 Oliva is one of the richest in the colour and brilliancy of the shell 

 and variety of species ; and he refers to the beautiful collection of 

 M. Duclos, who had made the genus his particular study. 



0. textilina, has the shell cinereous white, subreticulated with flexu- 

 ous dotted lines, with two brown bands inscribed as it were with 

 characters ; the callus .of the canal prominent. It is found in the 

 Antilles and New Guinea. 



0. maura has the shell cylindrical, the apex retuse, black ; lip sub- 

 plicate externally ; aperture white. It is found in the Eaat Indian 

 Ocean, Australia, and Amboyna. 



Oliva maura. (' Astrolabe.' 



0. sanguinolenta, has the shell cylindrical, very delicately reticu- 

 lated, with rufous brown small lines, girt with two brown zones ; the 

 pillar orange-red. It is found in the East Indian Ocean and on the 

 coast of Timor. 



Oliva sanguinolenta. ('Astrolabe.') 



, Shell seen from below ; 6, animal out of the shell, shown as when creeping 

 on its large foot. 



The species have been found at depths varying from the surface to 

 twelve fathoms, on mud, sandy-mud, coarse sand, &c. The species 

 are fond of flesh, but they only suck the juices; and at Mauritius 

 they are taken with that bait in the following manner, according to 

 Lieutenant Harford, who was for some time there, brought home some 

 very fine Mauritian shells, and gave the information to Mr. Broderip. 

 The fishery was carried on by means of a line made to run parallel 

 with the bottom of the sea, to which line small nooses, each contain- 

 ing a piece of the arms of a cuttle-fish (Sepia), were appended so that 

 the bait touched the bottom. To one end of the line a chain-shot was 

 attached by way of mooring ; and over it were a buoy and a flag. The 

 other end of the line swung with the tide, and that end was also 

 marked by a buoy and a small flag. The sport was carried on in deep 

 water over sand-banks, and the best times were the morning and the 

 evening. The apparatus was occasionally cautiously drawn up and 

 the Olives which were found adhering to the bait were taken into the 

 boat in which the fishermen were. 



OUvella, and Scaphula, Sowerby, and Agaroma, Gray, are sub-genera; 

 117 fossil and 20 recent species have been described. (Woodward, 

 ' Manual of the Mollusca.') 



Cymba, Broderip. The species are called Boat-Shells. The shell 

 is like Voluta ; nucleus large and globular ; whorls few, angular, form- 

 ing a flat ledge round the nucleus. The foot of the animal is very 

 large, and deposits a thin enamel over the under side of the shell. It 

 is ovoviviparous, and the young animal is very large when born ; the 

 nucleus becomes partly concealed by the growth of the shell. Ten 

 recent species have been described. 



C. Nepluni has the shell obovate, tumid, ventricose, of a brownish- 

 red, covered with a strong brown epidermis, over which an enamel-like 

 glaze is extended from the pillar over about a fourth part of the shell, 

 leaving the epidermis of the back uncoated. In full-grown specimens 

 the spire and apex are entirely concealed, and the upper border of the 



