VII. Descriptions of Thirty-four Species of Marine 

 Mollusca from the Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, 

 and Gulf of Oman. 



(Mostly collected by F. W. Townsend, Esq.) 

 By James Cosmo Melvill, M.A., F.L.S. 



Received and read December 15th, 1896. 



For the past three or four years, Mr. F. W. Townsend, 

 of Manora, Karachi, has been most successfully utilising 

 the exceptional advantages possessed by him as" officially 

 connected with the Submarine Telegraph Service in the 

 North Indian Ocean, embracing the whole distance from 

 Karachi to Bushire, frequent inspection of the cable 

 being, of course, necessary. 



Various marine objects, both animal and vegetable, 

 rapidly surround and encrust the cable, and these have, 

 from time to time, to be removed. 



It is only natural to suppose that many Mollusca take 

 up their abode amongst the Algce and other growths, and 

 the results of Mr. Townsend's dredgings and examinations 

 of the cable have, in this particular, been beyond all 

 measure gratifying and encouraging. 



Mr. G. B. Sowerby, F.L.S. , has already described 

 some remarkable new species thus discovered by Mr. 

 Townsend, of which the most remarkable, perhaps, are 

 a most beautiful Niso (N. venosa Sowb.), a Cancellaria (C. 

 paucicostata Sowb.), a large orange and white Spondylus 



May 20th, 1897. 



