32G 



Gasteropoda. - 



MOLLUSCA.- 



-Proboscidifera. 



notch on the outer side of tlie acute apex. The species 

 are natives of warm seas, being found in the Red Sea, 

 those of Ceylon, and the PhiHppiue islands, Australia, 

 and the west coast of America. 



Family— BUCCINID^. 



The family of WHIIKS {Bucciiiida:), is the third 

 fimily of the sub-order Proboscidifera. lu this family 

 the lingual ribbon is extremely long, and the teeth 

 are implanted on it, iu one hundred rows, being placed 

 in three series. The shells never reach the size that 

 many of the Miirices and Fun do, nor show the same 

 diversity and brilliancy of colours ; and in the great 

 majority, the canal is short, abruptly reflected or reduced 

 to a notch, and with very few exceptions, we see none 

 of the varices so well marked iu the genus Murex and 

 Chicoreus. One of the chief differences, however, is 

 found in the form of the operculum. This appendage 

 is either oblong or ovate, and the nucleus instead of 

 being apical is placed on or near the outer edge. 



The family Buccinidce is not so numerous in species 

 ■IS the preceding, but contains some very interesting 

 shells. 



Genus Purpura. — The shell is ovate, and the spire 

 short; the aperture is large, with its outer lip simple 

 but lined or toothed within, and the inner lip concave 

 or flattened ; catial of shell very short. The operculum 

 is ovate, with the nucleus external. The species of 

 Purpura are very numerous, upwards of one hundred 

 having been described; they are distributed over most 

 of the globe, and range from low water to twenty-five 

 fathoms. Many of them produce a fluid which gives 

 a dull crimson or purple dye ; hence they are known 

 generally by the name of Purples. This fluid may be 

 obtained by pressing on the operculum. Our common 

 little Purple, or Dog periwinkle, as it is sometimes called 

 {Purptira lupillus), so common and abundant on most 

 of our shores, contains this purple liquid along with 

 others, and in all probability was used along with Murex 

 Irunculus (see p. 190) by the ancients to furnish the 

 celebrated Tyrian dye. The receptacle of the creamy 

 secretion which furnishes the purple dye, lies behind 

 the animal's head, and Montagu observes that it appears 

 whiter than the rest of the animal. The purple hue is 

 not developed until after ex]iosure to air and light. As 

 a'rjady mentioned (p. 190 , the dye obtained from the 

 common purple was used at a very early period by the 

 natives of this countr}'. " The venerable Bede, who 

 wrote in the eighth century, mentions the art as a thing 

 known in his days, and he was familiar with the beauty 

 and permanency of the colour. The same fact is men- 

 tioned by Kichard of Cirencester, and also in a transla- 

 tion of Higden's Polichronicon made in the year 1387." 

 — {Johnston.) It would appear from what these authors 

 state, that the art was familiarly known and followed, 

 but from its limited utility, and perhaps still more from 

 its expense, it seems gradiuilly to have gone into disuse, 

 until at length only a few families preserved the know- 

 ledge of its use, and handed it down to their posterity 

 as a family secret. In 1G84 it was employed in Ireland 

 for dyeing fine linen, and Mr. William Cole of Bristol, 

 Laving been informed of this, instituted some experi- 



ments, which proved that the dye was easily procurable 

 from the animal of the Purpura lapillus. 



Genus Concholepas. — Concholepas is a purpura 

 with a very large wide aperture and a very short sjiire. 

 The shell altogether is ear-shaped, and the outer lip 

 has two or three small teeth in front. 



Genus Monoceros {Acantldza). — Monoceros is a 

 purpura with a spiral groove on the whirls, which ends 

 in a prominent spine or strong tooth on the outer lip. 



Genus Ricinula (iSis/ram).— Ricinula differs from 

 purpura in having a tuberculated or spiny shell with a 

 narrow mouth, which is contracted by callous projec- 

 tions or large teeth on both inner and outer lips. Some 

 of the species are adorned with lively colours ; they are 

 about twenty-five in number and are natives of India, 

 China, the Philippine islands, Australia, and the Pacific. 



Some of theP«)7)ur(«a are remarkable for the peculiar 

 habit they have of li\'ing in or on coral. One of these, 

 which by some authors is considered a distinct genus, 

 and named Rhizochilus, lives on a species of Antipatlies 

 or Gorgonia. When young, the shell is free, but when 

 it has assumed its adult form it frequently acquires 

 more or less irregular solid shelly extensions of the 

 outer and inner lips which clasp the axis of the coral, 

 and at length close the mouth, with the exception of 

 the anterior siphonal canal, which is converted into a 

 shelly tube. In process of time the animal becomes 

 permanently fixed to the coral, and dies there eventually. 



Genus Magilus. — Magilus is another peculiar genus. 

 When young it has a thin spiral shell, but when adult 

 it becomes solid, of a white colour, spiral for three or 

 four whirls, and then produced into a straight or flex- 

 uous tube, solid posteriorly, but with a small cavity at 

 the end for the reception of the body of the animal, 

 and a siphonal keel on the left side. This curious 

 genus lives in holes in the substance of masses of coral ; 

 and this inordinate extension of the shell is to enable 

 the animal to keep on a level with the surface of the 

 coral as it continues to increase in size, and thus enable 

 it to procure its food. As the shell extends, the tube 

 behind becomes filled up with solid calcarious matter, 

 and is left fixed in the substance of the coral. This 

 curious shell has been mistaken for a stalactite or 

 mineral concretion by some authors, and as the shelly 

 tube of an annelide or worm-shell by others. 



Genus Buccinum. — The shells of this genus are 

 of an ovate form, with a moderately extended spire. 

 The whirls are few and ventricose, the mouth large, 

 and the canal very short and reflected. The outer lip 

 is rather sinuous, and the pillar rounded. The oper- 

 culum is ovate, with a small nucleus placed near the 

 front end of the outer edge. The species are not veiy 

 manerous, only about twenty true typical ones remain- 

 ing. They inhabit the northern and antarctic seas, and 

 are found liom low water to one hundred fathoms. 



THE COMMON WHELK (Buccinum undatum) is one 

 of our most common sliells, being universally dis- 

 tributed around the British shores ; indeed, it is one 

 of the most widely distributed of Atlantic shells, as 

 well as one of the most variable in characters according 

 to its locality. Its general outline is ovato-conical, 

 passing through various degrees of elongation; from a 

 short, squat, ventricose shell, to one remarkable for 



