CLASS II. GASTEROPODA: ORDER 2. BRANCHIFERA. 513 
the animal has a proboscis-like raoutli, tentacles close together, long, and pointed, and tlie eyes 
near their outer bases. There are nearly one 
lumdred species, mostly tropical, but some 
are found in the Mediterranean, in various 
parts of the Atlantic and Pacific. On our 
coast six or eight species are found ; among 
them the S. stihdata, an inch long, of a 
bluish- white, varying to liA'id brown. 
Some of the Wentle-Trap shells are of great 
value. The Royal Stair-case Wentle- 
Trap, S. pretiosa, found in the China and 
Indian seas, formerly sold for four hundred 
dollars ; a fine specimen is even now worth 
twenty to thirty dollars. On account of its 
value, Lamarck gave this species the specific 
name oijyretiosa, that is, valaable or precious. 
THE TURBIXID^. 
In this family, the name of which is de- 
rived from the Latin turbo, a whipping-top, 
in allusion to the shape of the species, the 
shell is more or less conical or pyramidal; the 
animal has a short muzzle ; the tentacles are 
long and slender, with the eyes supported on 
short footstalks near their bases. The in- 
terior of the shells are generally pearly. 
These animals are all marine, feed on vege- 
table substances, and are very widely distrib- 
uted. 
Genus TURBO : Turbo.— Of this there 
are sixty living aiid three hundred and sixty 
fossil species. The Top-Shell, T. marmo- 
ratus^ has a turbinated solid shell, with con- 
vex whorls. Found in tropical seas. Other 
species are the Pheasant-Shell of Aus- 
tralia, Phasianella Australis ; the Nile Hoop-Shell, Trochus Niloticus ; and the T. imjyeri- 
alis. The latter is found 
only at New Zealand, 
and here it is rare ; the 
shell is very beautiful, 
the whorls lising in a 
depressed cone. 
The Marine Trump- 
et or Triton's Shell, 
Trilon variegatus, is 
variegated 
THE TROCHUS IMPERIALIS. 
elegantly 
with red and bay, the 
edge of the outer lip 
spotted with black. It 
is a nati\'e of the Asi- 
atic West Indian seas. 
The Great Triton, T. Tritonis, is the conch blown by the Australian and Polynesian Island- 
ers. The genus Triton is placed with the family Miiricidce by some authors. 
Vol. II.— 65 
THE MARINE TRUMPET-SHELL 
