BULL^A.] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



S07 



us of a circular shield, with a short-spiked central 

 boss. 



Referring to Fig. 2663, a represents the shell ; 

 A, the bi anchise ; c, the head viewed from above. 

 This species inhabits the Mediterranean, and is 

 found in rocky places along the shore. 



Fig. 2664 represents the shell of an Indian species, 

 the Umbrella Indica : a, the inside ; b, the outer 

 surface. 



2665. — The Siphonabia 



{Siphonaria Siplio). This form is thus characterized 

 by M. de Blainville :— The animal is oval and sub- 

 depressed, with the head subdivided into two 

 unequal lobes, without tentacles or apparent eyes ; 

 borders of the mantle crenulated ; a branchia in the 

 form of a square membrane, in a sinus formed on 

 the right side between the foot and the mantle ; the 

 shell is like that of a limpet, elliptical, with the 

 apex well marked, drawn slightly to the left, 

 poslerioriy ; a sort of canal or gutter appears on the 

 right side ; the internal muscular impression is of a 

 horseshoe shape. 



Though M. de Blainville did not detect eyes, it 

 would appear from the investigations of MM. Qiioy 

 and Gaimard (' Zoology of the Astrolabe *) that 

 these organs exist, and two very distinct nerves 

 have been detected running from the cesophageal 

 ganglion to them. The eyes in fact are sessile, and 

 in a specimen preserved in spirit of wine might 

 easily become undistingui-shable. The animal is 

 described as exuding a viscous whitish humour at 

 pleasure. 



Some naturalists have referred this form to the 

 limpets ; but, as the organization of the mollusk 

 proves, it belongs to the present order. 



The species of Siphonaria are numerous : they are 

 found along the shores of Brazil, the West Indies, 

 Tristan d'Acunha, &c. 



Referring to Fig. 2665, a exhibits the inside of 

 the shell of Siphonaria Sipho; b, the outside. 



Fig. 2666 represents a small species of Sipho- 

 naria: A, a lateral, B, a ventral view : a, the breathing 

 aperture : b, the head ; c, the mantle . 



According to M. Deshayes, the number of living 

 species of Siphonaria is twenty-one, of fossi) species 

 (m tertiary beds) three. 



From these mollusks we pass to a distinct form 

 or family, viz. the Bulladae, containing the genera 

 Lobaria (Acera or Akera of Miiller), Bullsea, Bulla, 

 Sormetus, and Gasteroptera, &c. 



The Bulladae are teclibranchiate ; the tentacles 

 are short and broad, and so modified as to form 

 together a sort of fleshy veil beneath which are the 

 eyes ; the stomach is complicated, and in many the 

 gizzard is furnished with a calcareous grinding 

 apparatus ; several species exude a purple liquor. 

 The shell, in such species as possess it, is more or 

 less rolled upon itself, destitute of a salient spire, 

 with a wide or patulous mouth. A better idea of 

 the form and characters of the animals of this group 

 than mere words can convey will be conceived by 

 referring to our pictorial specimens. 



2667. — The Flesht Lobabia 



{Lobaria camosa). Acera carnosa, Lam. ; Bulla 

 carnosa, Cuv. ; Doridium, Meckel. 



In this animal the body is oblong, subglobular, 

 and appears as if divided into four parts, viz. one 

 anterior for the head and thorax, one on each side 

 for the swimming appendages, and one posterior for 

 the viscera. There is not a trace of a shell, nor 

 is the stomach furnished with any calcareous 

 apparatus. The branchiae are covered by the 

 mantle at the posterior portion of the body. The 

 Fleshy Lobaria is the only species of the genus 

 known. It is found in the Mediterranean. 



2668. — The Patulous Bui.l.ea 



(Bullira aperla). L'Amande de merofthe French. 

 In the genus Bulla'a the shell is delicate, open, 

 and can scarcely be regarded as more than the ru- 

 diment of the rolled-up form, which, in Bulla, is 

 carried to greater perfection. It is hidden in the 

 substance of the mantle, and consequently does not 

 contain the animal, the body of which is indeed far 

 too large to be covered by so small a shield. The 

 stomach or gizzard is furnished with three very 

 thick rhomboidal pieces of a calcareous structure, 

 worked by powerful muscles. The animals are 

 found at considerable depths in the sea, on sandy 

 bottoms, where they creep about in quest of prey 

 with great facility. M. Blainville distinguishes 

 under the name of Bulltea those species which, 

 whether the shell be internal or external, have the 

 foot thick, and not dilated into swimming append- 

 ages, and which, consequently, differ in their 

 habits from the Bullae ; the former creeping well, 

 the latter creeping with difficulty, but swimming 

 with facility. He divides the Bullicae, first, into such 

 species as have an internal shell very incompletely 

 rolled up, without spire or columella, of which 

 Bulleea aperta is an examsle : secondly, into such as 



have an internal shell, very incompletely rolled up, 

 but with a columella and alveolar spire ; of this sec- 

 tion he gives Bulla ampulla as an example : thirdly, 

 into such as have the shell internal, aud the lateral 

 lobes more developed and cirrhous ; he cites Fcrus- 

 sac's Bullsea, figured in the ' Atlas Zoologique ' of 

 the Voyage of the Uranie, as an example. It will 

 here be perceived that M. de Blainville considerably 

 modifies the characters of Bullaca as established by 

 Lamarck. In the '• additions and corrections " to his 

 ' Malacologie,' he carries these modifications to a 

 still greater extent. 



Refeiring to Bullaea aperta. Fig. 2668 — A repre- 

 sents the back view of the mollusk ; B, the right 

 side ; C, the same, with the fleshy plate separated 

 from the dorsal to show the parts between ; D, view 

 of the under side; a, the fieshy plate that covers 

 the anterior parts of the body ; b, the fieshy plate 

 that acts as a foot or creeping disc ; c, the part 

 which contains the imbedded shell ; d, a portion of 

 the branchiae ; e and f, orifices. E, the shell re- 

 moved, and in its natural position ; F, the shell 

 viewed on its under or concave side. 

 - The Bullsea aperta is very extensively spread, and 

 has been found at a depth ranging from near the 

 surface to twelve fathoms. Mr. W. Clark (see 

 ' Zoological .Journal,' vol. iii. p 337) states that he '| 

 found two British species of Bullaea, viz. B. catena 

 and B. punctata, at Exmouth and Torquay, in deep 

 pools at the time of the lowest spring tides, and he 

 obtained a third species, Bullaea pruinosa, by dredging 

 off Budleigh Salterton ; the depth at which he 

 dredged is not mentioned, but it must have been 

 considerable, for he observes that the species is rare, 

 and only to be procured occasionally by deep 

 dredging seven or eight miles from the shore. It 

 may be here observed that the Bullaea catena was 

 found to have the gizzard furnished with a calcareous 

 apparatus, but in the two others the gizzards were 

 destitute of this crushing organ. We have now 

 before us the calcareous pieces with which the gizzard 

 of Bullaea aperta is provided : and a most efficient 

 apparatus they form for grinding or crushing the 

 shells of the smaller mollusks on which the animal 

 feeds. It would appear, indeed, to be very vora- 

 cious ; Mr. Soweiby, when speaking of the use of 

 these calcareous pieces, and of their powerful 

 adductor muscles, states that the animal of Bullaea 

 aperta is sometimes absolutely distorted, from having 

 swallowed entire a Coibula nucleus, a bivalve mol- 

 lusk, with a very thick strong shell, nearly equal in 

 size to itself. 



2669. — Ferussac's Bull.ka 



(Bullaa Fervssadi). In the additions to his ' Ma- 

 lacologie,' M. de Blainville proposes for this species 

 the geneiic name of Bullina. It is figured in the 

 'Atlas Zoologique' of the Uranie (Quoy and Gai- 

 mard). 



2670. — Adanson's Sormetus 



(Sormetus Adansmii). " Adanson's Sormetus," says 

 Cuvier, " is a species closely related to Bullaea, but 

 upon so imperfect a document fas that given by 

 Adanson, Senegal, pi. 1, vol. i.) I have no grounds 

 for establishing either a genus or even a species." 

 M. de Blainville appears equally at a loss respect- 

 ing it ; and though he provisionally places it near 

 Lobaria, he adds that the animal is utterly unknown. 



2671. — The Fragile Bulla 



(Bulla frngilis). In the genus Bulla, as consti- 

 tuted by Lamarck, the shell is external, covered 

 with a very thin epidermis, and is large enough to 

 serve the mollusk as a retreat. It must be observed 

 that this genus is now greatly restricted, and justly 

 so, from the Bulla of Linnaeus, who associated in it 

 the most diverse forms, mollusks formed for breath- 

 ing air, and others for aquatic respiration ; in fact, 

 a heterogeneous assemblage, as Physa, Achatina, 

 Ovula, Tcrebella, and others, besidesthose to which 

 the generic title of Bulla is now exclusively applied. 

 The labour of separating these ill-assorted Ibrms 

 was commenced by Bruguifires, and carried out by 

 Lamarck. 



The Bulla fragilis is stated by Lamarck to inhabit 

 the English Channel, near Nantes and Noirmoutiers. 

 It is remarkable for the delicacy and brittleness of 

 its thin shell, which is ovate-oblong, of a horn colour, 

 with fine transverse strife. The apex rises in the 

 rudiment of a projecting spire. Refeiring to Fig. 2671, 

 A represents the shell, with the aperture in view; 

 C, a view of the spiral apex, showing the way in 

 which the shell is rolled up ; B, the animal. 



An allied species, with a much thicker and firmer 

 shell, the Bulla lignaria, is also found in the Eu- 

 ropean seas, and occurs on the British coast. It is 

 of a pale wood-brown colour externally, with while 

 striae running in the direction of the roll of the 

 shell ; it is ' L'Oublfie ' of the French. 



2672. — The Belted Bulla 

 (Bulla Velum, Gmcl.). Bulla fasciata, Bruguieres. 

 This species is said to be a native of the Indian 



seas ; the shell is extremely delicate, and of a light 

 horn colour, with a snow-white baud about the 

 middle, bordered on each side with a band of dark 

 brown ; the apex and base are white, also bordered 

 with dark brown. 



2G73.— The Globose Bulla 



(Bulla Ampulla). La Muscade of the French, 

 In this species the shell is strong in texture, solid 

 and somewhat oval, and subglobose in form. Instead 

 of a spine there is a depression or alveolus. The 

 colour is very beautiful, consisting of a marble mix- 

 ture of white, plum colour, and reddish. According 

 to Lamarck it is found both in the Indian and 

 American seas, but Deshayes gives the European and 

 Indian seas as its abode. The figures are reversed 

 from an oversight in the drawing. 



2674. — Meckel's Gasteroptera 



(Gasteropteron Meckeli). This" little winged 

 mollusk is distinguished from other Bulladae by the 

 development of the borders of the foot into broad 

 wings which are used for the purpose of swimming, 

 when it propels itself along, with the back down- 

 wards. iTie gizzard is destitute of calcareous pieces. 

 The lateral gill is uncovered and there is no shell. 

 This animal is found in the Mediterranean ; it is 

 about an inch long, and two inches in length when 

 the wings are expanded. Various fossil Bulladae 

 have been enumerated by conchologists, and the fol- 

 lowing notice of it occurs in the ' Penny Cyclopaedia.' 



"Lamarck enumerates four fossil species, all of 

 them from Grignon : G. Sowerby says that such are 

 only to be distinguished in the tertiary beds and in 

 the green sand. Deshayes in his tables,* speaking 

 of tertiary fossils only, gives tsvo fossil species of 

 Bullaea, one from the sub-Apennine beds, and one 

 from Paris. Of Bulla he enumerates twenty-three 

 fossil in the tertiary beds; and of these, two are 

 both living and fossil, viz. Bulla lignaria and B. 

 ampulla. The first he places in Sicily, in the sub- 

 Apennine beds (Italy), and the English crag 

 at Bordeaux, Dax, in the Touraine, at Turin. 

 Angers, Paris, and Valognes ; in short, in the beds 

 of the Pliocene, Miocene, and Eocene periods of 

 Lyell. The second Deshayes quotes as occurring 

 in beds of the Pliocene period only, viz. those of 

 Sicily and the sub-Apennine beds (Italy). In his 

 edition of Lamarck (vol. vii. 1836) H* takes no 

 notice of B. ampulla as a fossil, but notices B. 

 striata (which he observes has been confounded with 

 B. ampulla) as a fossil species. He also remarks on ' 

 the confusion between B. solida and B. cylindiica, 

 and proposes that B. solida should take the name 

 of B. cylindiica; but the Bulla cylindrica of Bru- 

 guieres, living in the Mediterranean and European 

 seas, should be called B. cylindracea (Pennant's 

 name) ; and that the fossil Bulla from the environs 

 of Paris, confounded with the latter, should be 

 named Bulla Bruguicrei."t 



In the ' Magazine of Natural History,' September, 

 1839, p. 460, Mr. S. V. Wood describes the follow- 

 ing species of Bulla as occurring in the crag foima- 

 tion, viz. Bulla quadrata. Wood ; Bulla catenata, 

 Wood; Bulla dilatata. Wood ; Bulla lignaria, Auct.; 

 Bulla ventrosa. Wood ; Bulla eonulus, Desh. ; Bulla 

 concinna. Wood ; Bulla cylindracea, Bulla sub- 

 truncata. Wood ; Bulla obtusa, and Bulla olivula, 

 Wood. 



In the same Magazine for February, 1839, p. 61, 

 Mr. Bean, in his catalogue of the fossils found in the 

 Cornbrash Limestone of Scarborough, describes a 

 new species of Bulla (B. undulata) with the follow- 

 ing remark : — "Mr. G. B. Sowerby, in his genera of 

 recent and fossil shells, says^ — Fossil species (of 

 Bulla) are only to be distineuished in the tertiary 

 beds and the green sand. For once we must differ 

 from him, at the same time acknowledging the cor- 

 rectness of his general assertions. Fossil Bullae are 

 certainly rare ; — the specimen figured (viz. B. undu- 

 lata) being the only one that has occurred in this 

 neighbourhood. "The Bulla elongata, figured by 

 Professor Phillips in his' Illustrations of the Geology 

 of Yorkshire,' cannot belong to this genus, as our 

 specimens, though imperfect, have one fold on the 

 pillar." 



Here, then, we close our sketch of the fourth order 

 of Gastropodous Mollusks, accordingto the arrange- 

 ment of Cuvier. With respect to the manners and 

 habits of the species, our information is necessarily 

 limited. Living at the bottom of the sea, whence 

 they are dredged up by accident, we can seldom ob- 

 serve them in their native element, unless, indeed, 

 while floating on the tranquil surface of the ocean ; 

 and then, so diflerent is their appearance from that f, 

 presented by specimens preserved in spirits of wine, h 

 that we can scarcely recognise the species. Hence ■' 

 it is that drawings from preserved specimens are 

 really of little importance, however valuable to the 

 comparative anatomist these specimens may be ; 



• Lvell's * Principles orGeolocy,' fivo. ed., vol. iii. appendix 1. 

 + Tile specific names *' cylinilricii " and " cylindiiu;ea" are so nearly 

 alike, that we fear tlicre will still be confu.tion. 



