of new and rare Volutes. SB 



The shell mentioned in these catalogues, I believe, with Mr. 

 Sowerby, to be the identical specimen which furnishes our des- 

 cription. 



It appears to me to have for its congeners those volutes among 

 which the mamilla of the spire and the columellar plaits are most 

 strongly developed, the former being well fashioned, smooth, and 

 comparatively broad and flat at the apex, and the latter particu- 

 larly well defined and highly raised from the pillar. These shells, 

 too, have the basal belt very strongly marked, and generally 

 taking its rise, in the best developed forms, between the first two 

 plaits of the pillar, which plaits form the boundary of its width at 

 its origin. V. scapha will readily occur to every collector, as an 

 example of these volutes. 



The basal belt seems to be of some consequence in the animal 

 economy, and it may, therefore, occasionally furnish us with some 

 useful hints. It is continued from the point of its origin on the 

 pillar, gradually increasing in width as it advances, till it arrives 

 at the great basal notch which it receives, and is evidently formed 

 by a succession of growths, each of which in its time appears to 

 have terminated in the basal notch. In the group containing 

 V. vespertilio, this belt, which is least developed in V.pulchra^ 

 will be found also to take its rise between the two first plaits of 

 the columella. In V. magnijica it is very much developed, while 

 the granulations of the well formed mamillary spire of that shell 

 are becoming indistinct. In V. aulica the belt is very remarkable, 

 while the well formed mamilla is quite smooth. 



I cannot help thinking, upon the whole, that when we have 

 full materials for a natural arrangement, V. aulica will be found 

 to approach the granulated group by a near vicinity to V. magni- 

 jica. 



VoLUTA FuLGETUUM. — Liglitning-Jiash Volute. 



V. testa obk>nga, la;vi, spira acuminata, apice papillosa, lasvi ; 

 pallide carnea, spadiceo anguloso-striata (quasi fu]gurata),anfractu 

 ultimo ventricoso, superne subangulato ; apertura oblonga superne 

 acuta, labio columellari tenui, expansissimo ; columella tripli- 

 cata. Long. 6. lat. 3. unc. — Sowerby^ in T.C 



V. testa oblonga, ventricosa, Isevi, inermi, pallide carnea, strigis 



c 2 



