GASTEROPODA. 



83 



scarcely so long, and but a little broader ; the head in all 

 species very flat, and generally very broad ; the tentacula 

 distant, eyes external at the base, generally on a thicken- 

 ing, but they vary very much ; the breathing tube long, 

 turned back, and bearing on each side of its base an 

 upright appendage ; the mantle but slightly developed 

 in most of the species ; in V. angulata it is excessively 

 large, and turns back on the shell. — 61 species* (not in- 

 cluding Melo and Cymba) ; also fossil. 



This genus, as constituted by Lamarck, contains some 

 of the most beautiful shells that are known : they are 

 generally smooth, shining, and the colours bright and 

 varied ; they differ exceedingly in form and size, some 

 being globular, others oval, some turretecl, and others with 

 only a very small spire. Some of them have spines at 

 the upper part of each whorl, forming 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, making a beautiful contrast 

 of colours. 



The Volutes are found principally in hot climates, none 

 having been discovered in European seas, and but few in 

 America. They often attain a very large size. The 

 most rare species is V. Junonia, very few examples of it 

 are known, not perhaps more than four ; it is of a yellow- 

 ish white, and covered with a multitude of red-brown 

 spots ; some round, others almost square, and disposed 

 in transverse rows near one another. All the Volutes are 

 marine ; but V. paeifica ascends the rivers. Some of the 

 fossil Volutes are very interesting : the V. spinosa has a 



* Reeve's Iconica. 



G 2 



