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notch at the base formed a part of its distinctive 

 characters, was in other respects by no means natural, 

 including shells of different families, which have neces- 

 sarily been separated and placed at a distance, not be- 

 ing in any way allied to it. It comprehended shells with 

 the aperture entire, margin thickened, and the plaits 

 on the columella callous, as in the G. Auricula ; others 

 having the aperture channeled at the base, as in the 

 G. Fasciolaria; some with the aperture simply notched 

 at the base, as in the G. Buccinum ; others of the G. 

 Turbinella approximating the G. Murex and the G. 

 Mitra, in which the spire is sharp and pointed, the 

 right lip dentated, and the plaits on the columella 

 smaller at the base. These were all promiscuously blend- 

 ed together, occasioning an immense extent of genus, 

 and a confusion of species and character, incompatible 

 with reason, and greatly impeding the student's pro- 

 gress, as he might in vain seek, amidst the contradic- 

 tory evidences of different species, for that constantly 

 recurring generic distinction, which alone could enable 

 him to determine satisfactorily to what genus the shell 

 under his examination precisely belonged. The G. 

 Voluta as it now stands reformed by Lamarck, not- 

 withstanding its much more limited extent, still re- 

 mains a very numerous, natural, and most beautiful 



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