138 SOLEN. 



AMETHYSTINE RAZOR. 

 PL 34./. 1. Mrs. Mawe. 



31. Solen Amethystus. S. testa oblongo-ovata, compressa, transversim 



striata, utrinque hiante ; cardine altero bidentato, dentibus lateralibus 



nullis. 

 Shell oblong-oval, compressed, transversely striated, and gaping at both 



ends ; hinge with two teeth in one valve ; no lateral teeth. 

 Knorr. Vergn. 6. pi. 12. f. 2. Chem. Conch. 6. pi. 10. f. 93. Tellina 



Gari. 



Ail oblong-oval shell, of a dull purple colour, with 

 deeper rays of the same ; one end is rounded, the other 

 somewhat truncated; both ends gape; it is striated, 

 transversely, the striae on the rounded end, distant; 

 the middle of the shell is interlined. The striae are 

 waved over a faint ridge, which runs obliquely from 

 the apex to the margin, on the fore part of the shell. 

 Inside purple and white ; hinge with a notched tooth in 

 one valve, received between two others in the opposite 

 valve ; one of the two teeth is frequently wanting. An 

 inch and a quarter long, or from hinge to margin, and 

 two inches and a half broad. 



Inhabits India. 



The same reason which placed the Tellina variabilis 

 among the Solens, will also authorise the removal of this 

 shell to the same genus. Several specimens have been 

 examined, and all of them are found to close in the 

 middle, but to gape at each end. Chemnitz has re- 

 ferred it to the Tellina Gari, but that shell is particu- 

 larly distinguished by Linnaeus, as being striated ob- 

 liquely, as well as transversely, which is not the case 

 with the subject under our present consideration. It 

 is well represented by Chemnitz. 



