17S EOCENE MOLLUSCA. 



No. 116. Voluta muricina. Lamarck. Tab. XXIII, figs, la — c. 



Lister. 1685. Hist. Conchyl., t. 1033, fig. 6? 



Favanne. 1/80. D'Argenv. Conchyl. (3d edit.), t. 66, fig. 1. 

 Cochlea mixta? Chemn. 1795. Conchyl. cab., vol. xi, t. 212, figs. 3010 — 3011. 

 Voluta muricina. Lamk. 1816. Tableau Encyclop. et meth., t. 383, fig. 1 a — b. 



— — — 1802. Ann. duMus., vol. i, p. 477, No. 4; vol. xvii, p. 75, No. 5. 



— — — 1822. Hist, nat., &c, vol. vii, p. 350, No. 5. 



— — Defr. 1829. Diet, des Sci. nat., vol. lviii, p. 475. 



— — Desk. 1833. Encyl. meth. (Vers), vol. iii, p. 1144, No. 24. 



— — — 1824—37. Descr. des Coq. foss., &c, vol. ii, p. 697; t. 91, 



figs. 18—19 ; t. 93, figs. 3—4 ; t. 94, figs. 3—4. 



— Sow. 1844. Mm. Con., vol. vii, p. 31 ; t. 626, figs. 4—6. 



— — 1850. Dixon's Geol., &c, of Suss., p. 107; t. 5, tig. 20. 



V. testa ovato-fusiformi, ad basin sub-productd, late emarginatd, antice lavi, posticc 

 lougitudinaliter tuberculato-costatd ; spird elongatd, apice obtuso : anfractibus angulatis, 

 in juventd tenuissime transversim striatis, ultimo anfractu spiram in longitudine vix super- 

 anti : aperturd oblongo-ovatd ; labro simplici j labio angusto ; columella ter vel qualer 

 plicatd, inter plicas anteriores sulco lato exaratd. 



Shell ovately fusiform, produced, and widely, but not deeply, notched at the base ; 

 spire long and pointed, with a sub-papillary apex ; whorls six or seven, obscurely fur- 

 rowed at the base, smooth elsewhere, wide and angulated at the shoulder, crowned 

 with a single row of pointed, pyramidal tubercles, having their bases prolonged into 

 obtuse ribs, which are lost about the middle of the whorl ; the last whorl is conical, 

 and rather longer than the spire. In the immature shell the whorls are ornamented 

 with numerous, very slender, transverse striae, which are lost as the shell approaches 

 maturity. The aperture is of an oblong oval shape ; outer lip rather thick, with a 

 blunt margin ; inner lip narrow, thickened ; columella round, curved, furnished with 

 one large, prominent fold in front, and two or three smaller folds behind, and deeply 

 furrowed between the two front folds. 



The ribs sometimes, particularly in young specimens, extend far down the 

 whorl, almost to the base, and the tubercles are rounded : specimens also occur which 

 are narrower, and more slender than the typical form ; and, again, others are found 

 wider and shorter, according to the condition of the ribs. Indeed, as both M. Deshayes 

 and Mr. Sowerby have remarked, the shell is so variable in this respect, as to render it 

 difficult to define. The transverse striation is found as well on the French as on the 

 English shells, although that character is not noticed either by Lamarck or Deshayes. 



Size. — Axis, 3 inches and 4-10ths ; diameter, 1 inch and 6-10ths. 



Localities. — Bracklesham Bay. French: Grignon, Parnes, Mouchy, Courtagnon 

 (fide Desh.), Chaumont (fide D'Orb.). 



