38 
BULLETIN OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
to pass as the country becomes more populous, and as our 
poor classes become poorer, as the history of civilization tells 
us they must. It is chiefly by the poorer classes that the- 
Whelk is used in England. When the fishery does begin to 
become of importance, regulations for its protection should be 
enforced from the first. In England, the only restriction 
that is found to be needed, is as to the taking of the young;, 
those under one and three-fourths inches long must be re- 
turned to the water. 
7. Purpura lapillus (Lin.) Lamarck. 
Purple-shell, Dog-periwinkle, Dog-whelk. 
[. Purpura , Tj’rian-purple shell ; lapillus , a little stone.] 
Distribution, (a) General ; — Between tide marks and 
in very shallow water. Long Island (rare South of Cape Cod) 
to the Arctic Ocean; around the North Atlantic to Northern 
Europe and south to the coast of Africa. North-eastern 
coast of Asia to Japan; Sitka, Alaska, and possibly south to 
California. 
(b) In Acadia ; — (in N. B.) Very abundant on the Bay 
of Fundy coast from Grand Manan to St. John and probably 
much further. Not reported from the North Shore, but 
surely occurs there. (In N. S.) Annapolis Basin, abundant,. 
Vericruzen; all rocky shores, Jones; Prince Edward Island, 
Dawson. Probably occurs everywhere on our coasts in rocky 
places and tolerably clear water. 
Habits. So variable is the shell of this animal, and so few con- 
stant characters does it present that it is difficult to describe it. It is^ 
without doubt, the most variable shore shell we have. Sometimes, when 
living in very sheltered places, it is nearly as thin as this paper; again, 
when exposed on rocky reefs, it may be of a thickness a dozen times as 
great. Sometimes it is white, sometimes orange, or gray, or brown, or 
any neutral shade. While usually of a nearly uniform color, it some- 
times shows broad revolving bands, one to three in number, of pure 
white on a dark ground. Sometimes quite smooth, again it is finely 
sculptured with longitudinal lines of raised scales, and there is every 
gradation between these extremes. It varies, too, in form, and in length 
proportional to the breadth. The only shore form which it resembles. 
