326 Gasteropoda. MOLLUSCA. Proboscidifera. 
notch on the outer side of the acute apex. The species 
are natives of warm seas, being found in the Red Sea, 
those of Ceylon, and the Philippine islands, Australia, 
and the west coast of America. 
Family— BUCCmiD^. 
The family of WHILES {Buccinidce), is the third 
family of the sub-order Proboscidifera. In this family 
the lingual ribbon is extremely long, and the teeth 
are implanted on it, in one hundred rows, being placed 
in three series. The shells never reach the size that 
many of the Murices and Fusi do, nor show the same 
diversit}'- and brilliancy of colours ; and in the great 
majority, the canal is short, abruptly reflected or reduced 
to a notch, and with very few exceptions, we see none 
of the varices so well marked in the genus Murex and 
Chicoreus. One of the chief differences, however, is 
found in the form of the operculum. This appendage 
is either oblong or ovate, and the nucleus instead of 
being apical is placed on or near the outer edge. 
The family Buccinidce is not so numerous in species 
as the preceding, but contains some very interesting 
shells. 
Genus Purpura. — The shell is ovate, and the spire 
short ; the aperture is large, with its outer lip simple 
but lined or toothed within, and the inner lip concave 
or flattened ; canal of shell very short. The operculum 
is ovate, with the nucleus external. The species of 
Purpura are very numerous, upwards of one hundred 
having been described ; they are distributed over most 
of the globe, and range from low water to twenty-five 
fathoms. Many of them produce a fluid which gives 
a dull crimson or purple dye ; hence they are known 
generally by the name of Purples. This fluid may be 
obtained by pressing on the operculum. Our common 
little Purple, or Dog periwinkle, as it is sometimes called 
{Purpura lapillus), so common and abundant on most 
of our shores, contains this purple liquid along with 
others, and in all probabilitj'^ was used along w'lth Murex 
trunculus (see p. 190) by the ancients to furnish the 
celebrated Tyrian dye. The receptacle of the creamy 
secretion which furnishes the purple dye, lies behind 
the animal’s head, and Montagu observes that it appears 
whiter than the rest of the animal. The purple line is 
not developed until after exposure to air and light. As 
already mentioned (p. 190), the dye obtained from the 
common purple was used at a very early period by the 
natives of this country. “ The venerable Bede, who 
wrote in the eighth century, mentions the art as a thing 
known in his days, and he was familiar with the beauty 
and permanency of the colour. The same fact is men- 
tioned by Richard of Cirencester, and also in a transla- 
tion of Higden’s Polichronicon made in the year 1387.” 
— {Johnston.) It would appear from what these authors 
state, that the art was familiarly known and followed, 
but from its limited utility, and perhaps still more from 
its expense, it seems gradually to have gone into disuse, 
until at length only a few families preserved the know- 
ledge of its use, and handed it down to their posterity 
as a family secret. In 1684 it was employed in Ireland 
for dyeing fine linen, and Mr. William Cole of Bristol, 
having been informed of this, instituted some experi- 
ments, which proved that the dye was easily procurable 
from the animal of the Purpura lapillus. 
Genus Concholepas. — Concholepas is a purpura 
with a very large wide aperture and a very short spire. 
The shell altogether is ear-shaped, and the outer lip 
has two or three small teeth in front. 
Genus Monoceros {Acanthiza). — Monoceros is a 
purpura with a spiral groove on the whirls, which ends 
in a prominent spine or strong tooth on the outer lip. 
Genus Ricinula {Sistrum). — Ricinula differs from 
purpura in having a tuberculated or spiny shell with a 
narrow mouth, which is contracted by callous projec- 
tions or large teeth on both inner and outer lips. Some 
of the species are adorned with lively colours ; they are 
about twenty-five in number and are natives of India, 
China, the Philippine islands, Australia, and the Pacific. 
Some of th^Purpurina are remarkable for the peculiar 
habit they have of living in or on coral. One of these, 
which by some authors is considered a distinct genus, 
and named Rliizochilus, lives on a species of Antipathes 
or Gorgonia. When young, the shell is free, but when 
it has assumed its adult form it frequently acquires 
more or less irregular solid shelly extensions of the 
outer and inner lips which clasp the axis of the coral, 
and at length close the mouth, with the exception of 
the anterior siphonal canal, which is converted into a 
shelly tube. In process of time the animal becomes 
permanently fixed to the coral, and dies there eventually. 
Genus Magilus. — Magilus is another peculiar genus. 
When young it has a thin spiral shell, but when adult 
it becomes solid, of a white colour, spiral for three or 
four whirls, and then produced into a straight or flex- 
uous tube, solid posteriorly, but with a small cavity at 
the end for the reception of the body of the animal, 
and a siphonal keel on the left side. This curious 
genus lives in holes in the substance of masses of coral ; 
and this inordinate extension of the shell is to enable 
the animal to keep on a level with the surface of the 
coral as it continues to increase in size, and thus enable 
it to procure its food. As the shell extends, the tube 
behind becomes filled up with solid calcarious matter, 
and is left fixed in the substance of the coral. This 
curious shell has been mistaken for a stalactite or 
mineral concretion by some authors, and as the shelly 
tube of an annelide or worm-shell by others. 
Genus Buccinum. — The shells of this genus are 
of an ovate form, with a moderately extended spire. 
The whirls are few and ventricose, the mouth large, 
and the canal very short and reflected. The outer lip 
is rather sinuous, and the pillar rounded. The oper- 
culum is ovate, with a small nucleus placed near the 
front end of the outer edge. The species are not very 
numerous, only about twenty true typical ones remain- 
ing. They inhabit the northern and antarctic seas, and 
are found from low water to one hundred fathoms. 
THE COMMON WHELK {Buccinum undatum) is one 
of our most common shells, being universally dis- 
tributed around the British shores; indeed, it is one 
of the most widely distributed of Atlantic shells, as 
well as one of the most variable in characters according 
to its locality. Its general outline is ovato-conical, 
passing through various degrees of elongation ; from a 
short, squat, ventricose shell, to one remarkable for 
