292 BUCCINIM. 



rock-pool at St. Andrews. An egg-case, extruded from 

 one of these whelks, which he held in his hand, was 

 quite soft, and fell into the water like a ball of jelly. 

 Before the fry leaves its cell, it is furnished with two 

 rounded and ciliated lobes in front, a proboscis, eyes, 

 foot, gills, heart, otolites or ear-stones, and other organs, 

 besides a perfectly formed shell of two whorls and an 

 operculum. The spawning-season takes place, accord- 

 ing to the latitude and climate, between October and 

 May ; about two months are required for the develop- 

 ment of the fry. The shells vary exceedingly in thick- 

 ness ; some are solid and coarsely ribbed ; others are thin, 

 and their sculpture is very delicate. Sometimes the top 

 of the shell is broken off, and the opening is closed by a 

 plug. In young specimens the nucleus of the operculum 

 is more central than in the adult, the lateral extension of 

 growth being inwards or towards the pillar. Mr. Dennis 

 and Mr. Norman believe that the scalariform distortion 

 of the whorls, which is not unfrequent, is occasioned by 

 an annelid occupying the suture ; but the epidermis in 

 such cases may be traced covering that part, and the 

 distinction between post hoc and propter hoc may apply 

 to the opinion of the above naturalists, as well as to the 

 arguments of lawyers. The shell is the "roaring buckie^ 

 of Scotch bairns. Wordsworth has amplified this idea 

 in the following pretty lines : 



" I have seen 



A curious child, who dwelt upon a tract 

 Of inland ground, applying to his ear 

 The convolutions of a smooth-lipp'd shell ; 

 To which, in silence hush'd, his very soul 

 Listen'd intensely, and his countenance soon 

 Brighten' d with joy : for murmurings from within 

 Were heard, sonorous cadences, whereby, 

 To his belief, the monitor express'd 

 Mysterious union with its native sea." 



