326 MURICIM. 



(Nyst). Var. striata, Kelsey Hill (Prestwich) ; Nor- 

 wich Crag (Woodward); Uddevalla (J. G. J.) . Monstr. 

 contrarium, Wexford (Sir H. James) ; Kelsey Hill 

 (Prestwich); Aberdeenshire Crag-beds (Jamieson); Sicily 

 (Philippi); Red Crag (S. Wood); Antwerp Crag (Nyst) . 

 Monstr. contortum, Red Crag (S. Wood). The present 

 distribution of this species extends from Havosund 

 (Sars) to the Boulonnais (Bouchard), and further south- 

 wards to the Loire-Inferieu-re (Cailliaud), and the Cha- 

 rente-Inferieure (Cassaigneaud, fide Aucapitaine, and 

 Des Moulins,,/^ Fischer) ; depths 20-40 f. The Tri- 

 tonium antiquum of Middendorff is apparently a different 

 species, having the upper part of the whorls more or less 

 flattened, and being destitute of the spiral sculpture. 

 The monstrosity contrarium has been recorded as taken 

 by Michaud at Barcelona, and by M f Andrew as living 

 on the shore at Vigo ; I have it from Sicily. 



This is a good bait for codfish, and a favourite deli- 

 cacy of the lower working-classes in London. At Bil- 

 lingsgate it is sold under the name of " almond " or 

 " red whelk ; " according to Rutty' s History of Dublin 

 the Irish call it " barnagh," the tail [liver] being said to 

 be more fat and tender than a lobster. The egg-cases or 

 capsules overlap one another in an imbricated fashion, 

 each being firmly attached by its base to the underlying 

 capsule ; they are deposited in clusters of from a dozen 

 to a hundred, the capsules in each cluster being equal in 

 size. Those which compose one cluster, however, are not 

 half as large as those forming another cluster, although 

 in both cases the fry are in the same state of maturity. 

 When they are dry, the upper or convex side shrivels, and 

 is wrinkled or pitted ; the under or flat side (which by 

 contraction becomes concave) is of a silky texture, and 

 divided across by a few lines ; the opening is a wide slit, 



