150 



a large proportion of the published species was so very limited 

 that it became an object with me to supply so important a 

 desideratum from approved sources. And, if in this I have 

 been to a great extent fortunate, it is attributable partly to 

 the care which I find manifested in Mr. Cuming's manuscript 

 catalogues of recording the native country with the circum- 

 stances of habitation, and partly to my own experience, since 

 within the tropics I have chanced to encounter a large num- 

 ber of species. I have also, when practicable, stated every 

 habitat ; since several habitats inform us of the range, and 

 we thus attain a step towards geographic diffusion ; and as 

 the authority for a habitat unquestionably increases its value, 

 I have studiously attached the name of the collector ; the only 

 exception being in my own case, and in almost every instance 

 where no authority is quoted, I am responsible. 



A reversed species occurs among the fossils, Terebra 

 inversa. Nyst. 



DESCRIPTIONS. 



1. T. maculata. (pi. xlii. f. 33.) Lamarck, Hist, des Ani- 

 maux sans Vert. v. vii. p. 283. Buccinum maculatum, Lin- 

 naeus, Syst. Nat. p. 1205, Subula maculata, Schumacher, Nouv. 

 Syst. p. 233. 



Testa elongate conico-subulata, ponderosa, polita, albida ; 

 anfractibus planulatis, versus medium sulco divisis, maculis 

 fuscis seriatim cinctis, ultimo luteo quadratim maculato ; aper- 

 tura subattenuata ; columella contorta. 



Shell handsome, massive and heavy, subulate, the ground 

 colour of a cream colour with two series of rich reddish- 

 brown, irregular, longitudinal, aggregated strigae or spots, of 

 which the upper series is the larger ; whorls smooth, flattened, 

 divided by an impressed line, not always very visible in 

 mature individuals, but apparent on the superior whorls ; last 

 whorl banded with pale chesnut ; aperture an elongated oval ; 

 columella naked, somewhat twisted. 



This is the typical species, and an eminently handsome 

 shell. In the Pacific, the animal is eaten as food, and the 

 shell, ground at an angle, was much in use as a chisel in the 

 construction of the canoes. 



Its habitat is extensive. It prevails everywhere over the 

 Pacific and Indian Seas, as far as the Seychelles. It usually 

 occurs of a large size, and very numerous in individuals, par- 

 ticularly where sand or fine coral abounds ; in the latter, of 



