14 Panama Shells. introduction 



this gentleman to the Philippines. Subsequently more of them 

 have appeared in the Proceedings of the same Society, in Sow- 

 erby's Thesaurus Conohyliorum, and especially in Reeve's 

 Conohologia loonica. In these last two works, we find the habi- 

 tats of all, and the stations of most of the species collected 

 by Mr. Cuming, so far as the genera have been mono- 

 graphed. 



The laborious and productive travels of the Chev. Alcide 

 D'Orbigny during the years 1826-33, comprise a portion of 

 this zoological province. In July 1833, this gentleman 

 reached the Pacific coast at Arica by a journey across 

 the Andes. Embarking thence on the 25th, he stopped 

 at Cobijo, Islay, Arequipa, and Callao. Re-imbarking 

 here, this industrious traveller returned to Europe by way 

 of Valparaiso. 



In the large quarto which D'Orbigny has devoted to the 

 MoUusca of South America, numerous species of shells are 

 described from the four marine faunte. Among them are 

 many which were collected by M. Fontaine, and by Mr-. 

 Cuming, and others. The tropical and the temperate marine 

 faunae of the west and east sides are shown to be entirely 

 distinct in respect of the MoUasca, of which 628 species are 

 enumerated, there being only one species common to any two 

 of these provinces. But it is conjectured that collections 

 made near the southern extremity of the continent on both 

 sides might show that several species are there common to 

 the Atlantic and Pacific faunae. The species common to 

 both sides is Siphonaria Lessoni, found at Montevideo and 

 at Callao. Other species, however, are said, in the body of the 

 work, to inhabit both sides of the continent, as Bulla striata^ 

 But in this case, analogous species may have been confounded. 

 Since Dr. Philippi has shown that several species had been 

 confounded under this name, the specific types are found to 

 be as local as most species are. D'Orbigny is one of the very 



