104 UNIVALVES. 



TURBO Littoreus.* 

 PERIWINKLE 



Specific character. Shell strong, sub-oval ; 

 body-whorl large, the others, four or five in 

 number, small and nearly flat, separated only by 

 a fine line ; aperture suborbicular, outer lip thin, 

 inner flat and thick. When full grown it is 

 nearly smooth and of an uniform brownish co- 

 lour, but the younger shells are more distinctly 

 striated and variously marked with purple, white, 

 yellow, or red bands ; size, about three quarters 

 of an inch long, and nearly equally broad. 



The Periwinkle is extremely abundant on the 

 shores of Great Britain ; it is often sold in our 

 seaport towns, and when boiled, eaten by the 

 lower classes. It is found on rocks usually 

 above low water mark. The Swedish peasants 

 affirm, that when the animals of this species 

 ascend the rocks, it is a sure sign of an ap- 

 proaching storm, as, prompted by instinct, 

 they place themselves out of the reach of the 

 dashing of the waves ; on the contrary, that 

 when they make their descent into the sand, it 

 is an indication of a calm. The mollusca of 

 the Periwinkle are striped with black ; they 

 have two setaceous tentacula annulated,'}* or 



* Littoreus is derived from the Latin word littus, a shore. The 

 littoral species are those which burrow in the sand, or adhere to 

 the rocks when left dry by the receding tide. 



tFrom annulus, the Latin-word for a ring 



