34 BULLETIN OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
lines more marked and tapers to both ends. The adult is about an' 
inch in length. It has, like other Gasteropod Molluscs, a “ tongue * r 
or lingual ribbon, set with sharp siliceous teeth. This 
ribbon can be moved back and forth so that its acts' 
like a file. It is so arranged that it moves in the arc 
of a vertical circle, and by its use the animal can bore a 
clean round hole through an Oyster-shell: then by means- 
of its proboscis it can suck out the juices of its victim. 
It deposits its eggs in short-stalked capsules on the* 
under surfaces of stones. It lives chiefly upon Oysters, 
but to some extent upon other Mollusca. It is said 
-r- not to attack the Mussels. 
Fig. 5.— Buccxn- 
um cinereum. Economic8. This Mollusc is of importance* 
Natui man on account of its destructiveness to- 
Oysters. Other Gasteropod Mollusca, such as Purjmrci, Natica, 
Nassa , etc., also prey upon Oysters, but their combined ravages- 
are unimportant compared with those of this species. It 
is very destructive to the beds on the coast of Long Island 
and New Jersey, and in the Chesapeake. Once having 
attacked a bed, it is almost impossible to get rid of it„ 
Dredging with fine-meshed dredges and the careful destruc- 
tion of their eggs wherever found in shallow water, seem to 
be the methods adopted and recommended for keeping them* 
down. They do not spread rapidly, and its careful removal 
from seed Oysters in planting new beds would do much to 
prevent its spread. They seem at times to make sudden and 
combined attacks on the beds in certain localities. Damage 
to the extent of tens of thousands of dollars annually is done* 
to the beds in the localities mentioned above. 
Such is the case in the United States. But upon our 
own North Shore we may congratulate ourselves on its com- 
parative scarcity. It seems to do but little damage there. 
This is doubtless due to the fact that it is a rock-loving 
species, and the sandy character of the shore is unfavorable 
to it. In the United States it is chiefly troublesome in rocky 
situations. We have here another exemplification of the 
excellence of our North Shore for purposes of Oyster culture, 
and another protest against our improvidence and lack of 
wisdom in allowing our splendid opportunities not only to lie 
unimproved, but to be positively misused. 
