218 Mr. Sowerby's Notes on Mr. Gray's Additions 



by the incorrect application of his name by such an author of absurdities 

 as Perry,* As to the individual specimen being figured by Perry, I do 

 not think his daub can have been taken from the specimen now in my 

 possession ; if it be, it is not only very incorrectly drawn, but much 



* It will be obvious that the propriety of these remarks depends, in a great 

 measure, upon the title that can be shown for Perry to be regarded as an author 

 worthy of credit. If the incorrectness of his descriptions and figures, or his 

 random and unprincipled nomenclature, or the vanity of his pretensions through- 

 out, which can only be equalled by his ignorance and the absurdity of his ob- 

 servations, if any or all of these can entitle an author to any further notice 

 than would be conveyed by a contemptuous silence, Mr. Perry would certainly 

 be deserving of citation ; but the following observations upon his writings and 

 figures will, it is presumed, go far to show that he must be struck out of the 

 list of authors worthy of notice. Among his names, the following are to be 

 found: — " Murex handatus, and M. bandarius, Blplex ruhicola, Triplex Jlavi- 

 " cunda, Triplex abortiva, Distorta acuta, Distorta rotunda, Septa Parkinsonia, 

 " Helix pictoria, Aculea magnifica, Cyprcea Jenningsia, C. CJialcedonia, C. Ban- 

 " data, Conus bandatus, Buccinella canulata, Scalaria Pallas, Melania Nonpa- 

 " reil, Cassidea bandata, Cerithium spicatum, Pomacea orbata. Bulla cinctoria, 

 " Harpa grandiformis. Patella Cypridium, Pyrula australasia, Venus furbellata, 

 " Venus disjecta, Mytilus lycophagus," (the Wolf-eating Muscle.) 



For a specimen of his descriptions I need only cite one or two passages, for 

 instance, that which appears under his account of pi. 61, "Mytilus lycophagus, 

 " shell of a bright purple, and richly barred with transverse longitudinal bands." 

 " — The Genus ^rg-oMciM Repossesses little beauty in its colours, but a symmetry 

 " exists in its form which is highly pleasing to the eye. It strongly resembles 

 " the well known fossil shells called by the name of Cornu Ammonis, and it is 

 " not improbable that it is of the very same genus and character." 



To show the incorrectness of his figures, I need only mention that, in his 

 figure of " Cyprma Alga," (which by the bye is Cyprma Mappa,) he has placed 

 the irregular mark formed by the edges of the bilobate mantle, and which he 

 compares to an Alga, on the wrong side of the shell. Let me, however, draw 

 your attention for a moment to his Buccinella cmrulea, a Turbinella, according 

 to Lamarck, which he has painted of a sky-blue colour, observing that " it has 

 " been described, but not very well figured, by the German Conchologist, 

 " Martini." I must remark that this observation appears to me to be intended 

 to hide his own plagiarism, for bad as Martini's figure is. Perry's is infinitely 

 worse, and moreover, so bad a copy of Martini's that it is indeed scarcely re- 

 cognizable. This, however, is not his most glaring plagiarism, several others 



