116 POPULAR CONCHOLOGY. 



74. Malleus. — Shell irregular, variously 

 distorted, nearly equivalve ; hinge margin gene- 

 rally very long, extended out into two ears ; no 



teeth, but a conical pit under the boss, which 

 is small ; an oblique notch for the passage of 

 the byssus, near the boss ; ligament external. 

 Animal, foot very distinct. — 6 species recent. 



The Malleus is a native of the East and 

 West Indies and Australia : it attaches itself 

 by a byssus to submarine rocks. The shape is 

 so very various, that scarcely two of a species 



