464 On the Conovulidse, Tornatelli(l?e, and Pyramidellidse. 



fascinating branch of natural history will receive both pleasure 

 and information by consulting its pages. 



I am. Gentlemen, your most obedient servant, 



William Clark. 



Postscript. — I have just taken from the coral zone of the 

 South Devon coast, at Exmouth, in thirteen fathoms water, the 

 rare Megathyris cistellula of the ^British Mollusca,' the Tere- 

 bratula seminulum ? Philippi, which I believe has not been found 

 so far south in the United Kingdom, except, fide Turtonij in Tor- 

 bay j I am sure that Professor Forbes and Mr. Hanley will feel 

 pleasure in the corroboration of the correctness, in this instance, 

 of Dr. Turton^s habitat : see the note in the ' British Mollusca,' 

 vol. ii. p. 362. I have had on several occasions personal inter- 

 course with Dr. Turton, and became the original purchaser of 

 his collection of British shells, which, during my temporary 

 secession from malacological pursuits, passed into Mr. Jeffreys's 

 possession ; Dr. Turton also did me the honour of the dedication 

 of his Manual of the Land and Freshwater Mollusca. Under 

 these circumstances, I consider it to be my duty, to say, in re- 

 spect to the note referred to, that I am confident my old friend 

 never intentionally led us into error; nor do Professor Forbes and 

 Mr. Hanley state otherwise. The fact is, that Dr. Turton was a 

 man of great simplicity, and so far from age giving an increase 

 of caution, it appears, with him, to have had a contrary effect ; if 

 it were necessary, I could relate several curious and laughable 

 stories of his being duped by the frauds of crafty shell-dealers. 

 Whilst I admit that Dr. Turton lent too credulous an ear to the 

 impositions of unscrupulous communicators, which has impaired 

 our dependence on the habitats of various doubtful testacea re- 

 corded in his ' Conchological Dictionary,^ I trust I have cleared 

 the memory of my friend, to whom British conchology is much 

 indebted for his care and nurture, from every suspicion of gross 

 and indesinent error : we must not forget that Dr. Turton and 

 the excellent Montagu fanned the flame of this branch of natu- 

 ral history when almost extinct, and its supporters were few and 

 far between. 



The present shell is quite fresh, with the dried animal in it ; 

 it is of subquadrate form, pale brown colour, much more com- 

 pressed than the Shetland specimens, and has the mesial groove 

 more distinctly developed ; still it is only a variety of the M. cis- 

 tellula, which M. Philippi states to be subject to much variation 

 of outline. Axis et diameter -^^ uncise. 



Note. — I withdraw for the present my notes on the Fusus 

 Branscombi, inserted in the December * Annals ^ for 1849, p. 424. 



