bo MOLLUSCA. 



the aperture is narrow, and its anterior edge ascends to the top of the 

 spire, which is excessively short. There is one plicaae, or several, at 

 the foot of the columella. The lustre and whiteness of this shell are 

 such, that on some coasts it is used for making necklaces *. A small 

 fossil species is fovmd in the vicinity of Paris f. In the true Volutae 

 or the 



VoLuTA, Lam. 



The aperture is ample, and the columella marked with large plicae, 

 the one furthest from the spire being the largest. The degree of 

 projection in the spire varies greatly. 



In some of them, Cymbium, Montf. ; Cymba, Sowerb., the last 

 whorl is ventricose ; the animal has a large, thick and fleshy foot, and 

 a veil on the head, from the sides of which issue the tentacula. The 

 eyes are on this same veil outside of the tentacula. The proboscis is 

 tolerably long, and there is an appendage on each side of the base of 

 the siphon. They attain a large size, and many of them are extremely 

 beautiful %. 



In others, Voluta, Montf., the last whorl is conical, becoming 

 narrower at the extremity opposite to the spire§. The foot of the 

 animal is not so large as that of the preceding ones ; their shells are 

 frequently remarkable for the beauty of their colours or their ar- 

 rangement. 



Marginella, Lam. 



Form of the shell, similar to that of a true Voluta ; but the external 

 margin of the aperture is tumid ; the emargination is but slightly 

 marked. The foot of the animal, according to Adanson, is very 

 large, and has no operculum. By turning up the lobes of its mantle 

 it partly covers the shell. The eyes are on the external side of the 

 base of its tentacula ||. 



M. de Lamarck also distinguishes the Coloaibella, in which the 

 plica? are numerous, and the varix of the external margin is inflated 

 in the middle^. It apjjcars that the opercvdum is wanting. 



* Volv. moniUs, L. ; Voh. triticea, Lam., &c. 



t FolvariabuUo'ides, Lam., Encyc. Method., pi. .384, f. 4. 



X Volv. athiupica, List., 797, 4 ; — T'. cymbium, 796, 3, SOO, 7 ; — V. olla, 794, 1 ; 

 V. Nepfuni, 802, 8 ; — T'. naricula, 795, 2 ; — V. papillaris, Seb., Ill, l,\iv, 9 ; — 

 V. indica, Martini, III, Ixxii, 772, 773 ; genus Melo, Sowerb., Gen. of Sliells, No. 

 XXVIII ; — cymbiolu, Chemn., X, cxlviii ; 1385, 1386 ; — V. prccpvtium, List., 798, 

 1 ; — T'. speclibilis, Davila, I, viii, S. 



§ Voluta i7iusica, List., 805, 14, 806, 15; — V. scapha, 799, 6; — V. vesperfilio, 

 807, 16, 808, 17; — V. hccbrea, 809, 18; — V. rei-illum, Martini, III, cxx, 1098; — 

 V. flavicans, Tb., xcv, 922, 923 ; — T'. widulafti. Lam., Ann. du Mus., &c. For the 

 other species consult the "Memoir of M. Broderip, Zool. Journ., April 1825. 



II Valuta glabella, Adans., IV, genus, X, 1 ; — Voluta faba, lb., 2 ; — Vol. pi'unum, 

 lb., 3 ; — Vol. persicula, lb., 4, and all pi. xlii, vol. II, of Martini; — Vol. marginuta, 

 Born., IX, 5, 6. 



ll Voluta mercatoria, List., 824, 43; — Vol. rustica, List., 824, 44 ; — Vol. mendi- 

 caria, and nearly all plate xliv of Martini, vol. II ; — Col. strombiformis ; — Vol. lahi- 

 esaj — Vol. puHctuta, &c., Sowerb., Gen. of Shells, No. IX. 



