MElrO. 



which is in some species very thin, but always wants the 

 g'lazed coating of Cymha. The apex is mammillary, and 

 looks almost as if it had been turned in a lathe. The 

 pillar, which is hardly straight, has from three to four 

 plaits sharp and well developed. The edge of the outer 

 lip is not reflected^ the base is very deeply notched^ and 

 the aperture, which is unprotected by any operculum, is 

 very wide. 



The Melons, some of which grow to a very large 

 size, are inhabitants of the warmer regions of the old 

 world. We are indebted to M. Freycinet's beautiful work 

 for a figure and description of the soft parts of Melo 

 ^thiopicus, (V, ^thiopica, Auct.) which was found in 

 Sharks' Bay, and is carnivorous. 



Section 1. — Spiral inermi. 



Melo Indicus, (V. Melo, Auct.) 

 2. — Spira spinis fornicatis armata. 

 Ex. Melo iEthiopicus. 

 Of the first section there is but one species known: 

 of the second there are six. None of the Genus appear 

 to have been discovered in a fossil state. 



Fig. 1- A young shell of il/eiTo Indicus, (V. Prceputrnm, Chemn. Gmel.) 



2. A full grown, but not large shell of Melo Indicus, covered with its 



epidermis. 



3. Melo umbilicatus, (Broderip,) N. S. in an intermediate stage of 



growth. In the full grown shell the whorls of the spire and body 

 whorl project so much beyond the apex, that the latter is seen as 

 it were at the bottom of aa excavation. 



