SPONDYLUS. 389 



ment of Madame K , who could not comprehend the strange meta- 

 morphosis of her plate. She delivered herself of a thousand painful 



conjectures on the subject. M. E , on his part, returned home 



happy with his shell, which he had committed to the safe custody of a 

 box placed in his coat pocket. But, as he approached the house, he 

 paused, and began for the first time to think of the reception he 

 might meet with. The reproaches which awaited him, however, were 

 compensated when he thought of the treasure he carried home. 



Finally, he reached home, and Madame E 's wrath was worthy of 



the occasion ; the poor man was overwhelmed with the grief he had 

 caused his wife; his courage altogether forsook him. He forgot 

 his shell, and, in his trepidation, seated himself on a chair without 

 the necessary adjustment of his garment. He was only reminded of 

 his treasure by hearing the crushing sound of the broken box which 

 contained it. Fortunately, the evil was not very great two spines 

 only of the shell were broken ; but the good man's grief made so great 



an impression on Madame E , that she no longer thought of her 



own loss, but directed all her efforts to console the simple-minded 

 philosopher." 



The variation in the number and direction of the spines is a striking 

 feature in Spondylus. When the whole lower surface adheres to 

 branches of coral, a very frequent occurrence, they are confined to the 

 upper valve, but when a part only of the valve, the whole surface 

 becomes covered. 



Having finished our short sketch of the Conchifera, we shall now 

 treat of the singular group, Brachiopoda,* which some place nearer to 

 the Gasteropoda than the Pteropoda, giving them, in fact, their place. 

 It is out of the province of this work to enter into the physiological 

 arguments of such a question. The days of the Brachiopoda or 



* The Bracldopoda may be thus tabulated : 

 Family. 



I. Lingulidte, containing Lingula and other fossil genera. 

 TI. Discinidx, containing Siphonolreta and Discina. 



III. Craniadss, containing Crania. 



IV. Productidx, containing Chonetes and Productus, fossil. 



V. Orthidse, containing Calceola, Davidsonia, Strophomena, and Orthis. 

 VI. Rliynconellidx, containing Atrypa, Pentamerus, and Rhynconella. 

 VII. Spiriferidx, containing Uncites, Retzia, Athyris, and Spirifera. 

 VIII. Terebratulidce, containing Thecidium, Agriope, Terebratella, and Tere- 

 bratula. 



