48 CORBULID.E. 



sseculo, multa venientis sevi populus nobis ignota sciet ; " 

 but at present my opinion coincides with that of other 

 naturalists, both as to the existence of species, and of 

 those of Neara in particular. 



This genus is the Cuspidaria of Nardo. It contains 

 many exotic species ; the late Mr. Hinds described and 

 enumerated seventeen in the ' Proceedings of the Zoo- 

 logical Society' for 1843, and Mr. A. Adams several more 

 in the ' Annals and Magazine of Natural History ' for 

 March 1864. The name Near a was originally used for 

 a genus of Diptera ; but no one is likely to be misled 

 by the subsequent application of it to the Mollusca, 

 unless perchance in consulting an index to any work on 

 general zoology. Otherwise the name given by Nardo 

 is more characteristic. 



-49 1. NILERA 



jy. abbreviata, Forbes in Zool. Soc. Proc. 1843, p. 75: F. & H. i. p. 201, 

 pi. vii. f. 7. 



SHELL triangularly oval, obliquely twisted to the posterior 

 side, nearly equivalve, extremely gibbous, fragile, semitrans- 

 parent, slightly glossy and iridescent : sculpture, about a dozen 

 concentric plaits or folds, besides numerous fine but irregular 

 intermediate striae ; the surface is also marked by a few obscure 

 longitudinal lines, and the posterior side by a sharp rib which 

 runs outwards from behind the beak in a curved or flexuous 

 direction: colour greyish-white: epidermis yellowish-brown, 

 visible only at the edges and back : margins rounded on the 

 anterior side and in front, indented or flexuous on the posterior 

 side, which is short, wedge-like, and considerably compressed ; 

 dorsal margins nearly equal in length, and straight : beaks 

 blunt, much inflected, somewhat inclined to the anterior side ; 

 umbones prominent ; the dorsal area is deeply excavated : 

 cartilage small, yellowish-brown, occupying an elliptical cavity 

 in a parallel line with the hinge : hinge-line obtusely angular : 

 hinge-plate narrow : teeth, a miante thorn -like cardinal in each 



* Shortened. 



