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POPULAR CONCHOLOGY. 



This genus, as constituted by Lamarck, con- 

 tains some of the most beautiful shells that are 

 known: they are generally smooth, shining, 

 and the colours bright and varied ; and differ 

 exceedingly in form and size, some being glo- 

 bular, others oval, some turreted, and others 

 with only a very small spire. Some of 

 them have spines at the upper part of each 

 whorl, which form a kind of thorny crown ; 

 many are curiously marked with lines and 

 spots, so as to form some resemblance to a line 

 of printed music ; and one very scarce species 

 is marked with five or six transverse milk- 

 white bands upon a dark ground, and spotted 

 with reddish brown, forming a beautiful con- 

 trast of colours. 



The Volutes are found principally in hot cli- 

 mates, none having been discovered in Euro- 

 pean seas, and but few in America. They often 

 attain a very large size ; but the fossil species are 

 generally smaller than the recent. The most rare 

 species is V. Junonia. Very few examples of 

 it are known, not perhaps more than four. It 

 is of a yellowish white, and covered with a mul- 

 titude of red-brown spots ; some round, others 



