'260 



HARPA. 



BUCCINUM HARFA. LillliauS. 



Mawes Linn, frontispiece, jig. 4; $■ pi. 24,/. 7. 



Linnaeus included the whole of these beautiful shells 

 in his G. Buccinum, and nearly all of them under the 

 name of B. Harpa, considering them all of one species. 

 Lamarck, however, from the number of species, and 

 each possessing distinctive characters, has deemed them 

 worthy of forming a genus by themselves. One general 

 character eminently distinguishes these shells: that of 

 having longitudinal parallel ribs, compressed, sinuous, 

 and sharp, the upper extremity of each armed with 

 one or more projecting detached points, giving the spire 

 a coronated appearance. Shell oval, more or less inflat- 

 ed, with longitudinal sharp ribs, parallel, and flexuous, 

 the spire short; aperture with a notch at the lower 

 end of the canal ; columella smooth, flat, and pointed 

 at the base. The most beautiful and valuable species 

 of this genus is the H. imperialis, in which the number 

 of ribs far exceeds that of any other, and occasions it 

 to be called in England the Many-ridged Harp. It is 

 also the only one that has a small spiral keel round the 

 summit. Sowerby, in his Genera of Shells, No. 3, has 



