407 



MONOGRAPH OF THE GENUS 

 CYMBA. 



As described by W. J. Broderip, Esq., for the ' Species Conchylionim '. 



Char. Gen. " Testa kevis, admodum ventricosa. Epidermis lsevis, 

 fusca, tegmine quasi vitreo partim vel omnino obducta. Apex rudis. 

 Spira brevissima. Columella curva, 2-4-plicata, plicis magnis, 

 acutis. Labium externum hand reflexum. Basis profunde emar- 

 ginata. Apertura bians. 



" Caput grande, planum, tentaculis remotis, oculis pone tenta- 

 cula positis. Pallium magnum. Pes maximus. Operculum nul- 

 lum. Animal carnivorum. 



" Marinum in calidioribus mundi veteris regionibus. 



" The genus Cymba seems to form a natural group of testaceous 

 Mollusca, the shells of which are marked by very strong characters ; 

 for these are ventricose, sombre, and for the most part, uniform 

 in colour, and the apex of the spire is so rudely fashioned, that in 

 the greater part of the species, it may be said to be almost shapeless. 

 The shells are covered with a smooth, brown epidermis, which is, 

 in adult individuals, more or less coated (in some instances entirely) 

 with a vitreous covering or enamel-like glaze, probably secreted 

 by the mantle. The columella is curved, and the base deeply 

 emarginate. The food of these marine Trachelipoda consists of 

 animal substances; they are inhabitants of warm climates, and 

 there is no direct evidence that one of the genus has been found in 

 the New World, if we confine the meaning of that term to America 

 and its Islands ; neither is the author aware that any of the shells 

 of this genus have been found in a fossil state." 



1. Cymba Neptuni (pi. lxxx. f. 14, 17, 23.) Voluta Neptuni, 

 Gmel. 



" C. testa obovata, ventricoso-tumida, rufo-fuscescente, anfrac- 

 tus basalis limbo apicem obliteratum prajtereunte, carinato, subre- 

 flexo ; columella 4-plicata. 



" Shell obovate, tumid, ventricose, of a brownish red, covered 

 with a strong brown epidermis, over which an enamel-like glaze is 



