204 POPULAR CONCHOLOGY. 



Family 9. — Scalaridce.* 



The shells forming this family are spiral, 

 but the whorls of some of the species do not 

 wrap over each other so decidedly as in many 

 others ; indeed, in many species, they do not 

 touch. Modern authors introduce a few new 

 genera. The third and fourth mentioned here 

 have been placed in many different parts of the 

 system. Lamarck mentions the first amongst 

 his Annelides.\ Rang says, in his Manuel des 

 Mollusques, that when he was seeking the 

 animal of the Magilus in India he was struck 

 with its analogy to Vermetus. It will there- 

 fore be placed near that genus, as its long tube 

 (caused by the circumstances hereafter men- 

 tioned) in some degree resembles the loosely 

 twisted whorls of that shell, and the young 

 student will on this account find the Magilus 

 placed amongst those which resemble it in form. 

 The family contains six genera. 



* Les Scalariens, Lamarck, 

 f See page 36. 



