PLATE XXXII. 



Abating somewhat of the romantic warmth with which the ideas 

 of the venerable collector alluded to was expressed, it must be admitted 

 that in point of beautiful simplicity this shell has never been surpassed 

 by any subsequent discoveries in the southern hemisphere; and it is 

 no less singular than certain that the price of twenty guineas, which 

 that collector named upon an imaginary valuation, has become the 

 average standard value of a fine shell of this kind for some years past. 

 At present they are more highly prized, because it is now pretty 

 clearly ascertained that they are no longer to be procured among the 

 natives of Otaheite ; and for this reason it is much more likely they 

 will reach a still higher price than that the value of them should 

 diminish. The shell we have represented is to be considered as a very 

 fine specimen in respect to size as well as colour. 



to this circumstance for the hint of so naming it, or on the contrary that the 

 gentleman was aware of the name which Dr. Solander intended for it, is 

 now beyond our means of ascertaining. It is more obvious that Chemnitz, 

 and after him Lamarck, have received the name Aurora from one or both of 

 these sources, although the anecdote may be itself forgotten. 



