200 MESALIA. 



dermis, spire short, papillary, regular, sometimes hidden by the 

 last whorl ; aperture large, nearly as long as the whole shell, 

 emarginate anteriorly ; outer lip thin ; columella slightly curved, 

 with four or five laminar, oblique, prominent plaits* — Obs. The 

 genus Melo has been separated from Valuta principally on ac» 

 count of the largeness of the aperture, the lightness of the shell 

 and the thinness of the outer lip. Melo differs from Cymba in 

 the regularity of the spiral apex, and in the greater rotundity of 

 the shell. The Melons are beautifully coloured large shells, 

 found in the seas of the old world. The Melo Indicus has a 

 certain resemblance to a Melon. Ten species are enumerated 

 in. the Monograph, ^t. viii. Thesaurus Conchyliorum, by the 

 author. M. iEthiopicus. PL xx. Pig. 435. 



MELONIA or MELONITES. A genus of microscopic Forami- 

 nifera. 



MEECENAEIA. Schum. Venus Mercenaria, Auct. The 

 Money shell which passes current for cash, under the name 

 " Wampum," among the North American Indians. 



MEEETEIX. Lam. 1801. Original name for Cytherea, Lam. 

 1818. In the British Museum Synopsis it is proposed to con- 

 fine this genus to the species resembling Cyth. meretrix, &c. 

 After, however, removing Meroe, Circe, and Arthemis, from 

 Lamarck's Cythersea, it appears difficult to make any further 

 divisions. In preparing the Monograph for No. 12 of the The- 

 saurus Conchyliorum, the author found the succession of forms 

 so gradual, that it was impossible to make a rest at any given 

 point. PI. vi. fig. 117, a. b. c. <?. d. 



MEEOE. Schum. Cuneus, Mergerle, (prior.) Cytherea 

 Meroe, sulcata, scripta, hians, Auct. and similar species. The 

 Monograph, Thesaurus Conchyliorum, No. 12, contains seven 

 species. PI. vi. fig. 117, a. 



MESALIA. Gray. Eeeve Conch. Icon. " Shell acuminately 

 turrited, rounded at the base, columella flatly twisted, receding ; 

 margin of the aperture below the columella sinuated and re- 

 flected ;" distinguished from Turbitella by the character of 

 the columella, which is receding and flattened. Eeeve' s Mono- 



