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LIMA. Lamarck . 
Gen. Char. A longitudinal inequilateral eared bi- 
valve ; hinge cartilage partly external, attached 
to a pit in each valve, placed on diverging 
surfaces between the beaks ; beaks distant ; 
valves gaping a little laterally. 
The peculiar conformation of the hinge of the shells of 
this Genus has caused them to be separated from the 
Ostreae of Linn, or Pectens of late Authors, which they 
resemble in almost every other character, for most of 
them are longitudinally ribbed, and have distinct ears ; 
the line of the hinge also is straight and the hinge pit 
triangular ; it is the distance of the beaks from each other 
and the external situation of the cartilage that dis- 
tinguishes them : there is also a degree of obliquity in the 
valves that forms a natural character. The Generic 
name is taken from a specific one of Linnens’s , and is 
applicable to most of the species, particularly the known 
recent ones, all of which are decorated by deflected 
lamina much resembling a rasp to the touch. 
