TURBO TURBAN SHELL. 105 



streaked transversely with black ; the eyes are 

 at the base of the tentacula, and are very pro- 

 minent. 



TURBO Scalaris* 

 WENTLE-TRAP.f 



Specific character. Shell turreted, with eight 

 rounded detached whorls, connected only by 

 elevated acute oblique ribs ; the aperture round, 

 thickened, and reflected ; the colour snow-white, 

 sometimes pale flesh colour ; the size varies from 

 an inch and half to two inches in length. The 

 aperture is closed by a horny spiral operculum. 



This elegant shell is valued when perfect at 

 a high price, on account of its rarity. The nu- 

 merous ribs mark the different periods of its in- 

 crease, and are in fact the reflected margins of 

 its former apertures, produced at its various 

 stages of growth. It is found in the warm seas 

 of the east. There is a shell which inhabits the 

 European and American seas, and is found upon 

 our coasts, though not abundantly, called Turbo 

 Clathrus, or False Wentle-trap. J It differs from 

 the true Wentle-trap principally, in having its 

 whorls contiguous. The inhabitant is one of the 

 animals that yield a purple dye : if kept some 

 days out of water it becomes sickly, and dis- 

 charges a most beautiful purple liquid. This 



* Plate IV. figure 7. 



t A corruption of the German windel-treppe, a winding staircase, 



J Plate IV. figure 3. 



