Gasteropoda.- 
-MOLLUSCA.- 
-OLIVIEiE. 
327 
slenderness and graceful curvature. Tlie surface of 
the shell is usually invested with an epidermis, often 
soft and hairy, sometimes shiny and membranous, less 
frequently altogether wanting. It varies also consider- 
ably in colour, and grows to the length of six inches 
by three wide. The animal of the Whelk is very slow 
in its movements. Though it generally resides on the 
surface, it has the power of burrowing in the sand 
when in search of its prey. This action is produced 
by means of its foot, which it is able to distend to a 
size nearly equal to that of the shell. It is eminently 
carnivorous, and its proboscis — fig. 214— enables it to 
Pig. 214. 
Proboscis and teeth of Buccinum undatum. 
drill holes through the hardest shell of any bivalve. It 
is said to be very destructive to the common scallop 
or clam {Pecten opercularis), by slily insinuating its 
foot, and seizing upon the unwary inmate as it lies 
with its valves unguardedly open. This is at least 
mentioned by Montagu as the opinion of the fishermen 
of the coast, who, he says, acting upon this supposition, 
dredge for this Whelk, and either destroy the animal 
or use it for bait. At Portpatrick it is called the Hen 
Buckie, and is much used by the fishermen oil that 
coast as bait. It is caught for this purpose in baskets 
containing pieces of fish, which are let down in about 
ten fathoms of water, and are drawn up daily to be 
emptied of the shells which have crept into them to 
feed upon the dead fish. “ Each shell serves to bait 
two hooks ; so that reckoning the number of hooks 
used by all the boats at four thousand five hundred, 
about two thousand two hundred and fifty of these large 
shell-fish must be destroyed every time the lines are 
shot, and probably not fewer than seventy thousand every 
year. Yet the supply, chiefly obtained from a space of 
no great extent, seems to be even more abundant than 
ever.” — ( Wilson.) The AVhelk is also used as food by 
man. Thousands are exposed in the fish-shops and 
stalls in the metropolis; they are simply boiled and 
eaten with a little vinegar and pepper — “ a poor man’s 
delicacy, but by no means a wholesome morsel,” says 
Professor Forbes. “ A repast, sufficiently wholesome, 
and certainly not destitute of relish,” says Dr. Johnston 
Family— CANCELLARIIDH?. 
The shells of this famity are generally rough, with 
striae or ribs, or have a cancellated surface. The spii e 
is short ; the month ovate, channeled in front ; and the 
columella, or pillar lip, is marked with several strong 
oblique folds. No operculum has been observed; and 
though the animal has been seen in some of the species, 
the proboscis and teeth have not been examined. The 
character of the shells would lead us to believe that 
they belong to the carnivorous group, but M. Deshayes 
asserts that the Mediterranean species, Cancellaria ccm- 
cellata, is a vegetable feeder. The Cancellariae are 
marine shells, many of them of rather an elegant form, 
and much sought after by collectors. The number of 
recent species are about seventy, and their native 
countries are the Mediterranean, West Indies, Western 
Africa, India, China, and California. They have been 
dredged in from seven to forty fathoms. 
Family — OLIVID.dE. 
The family of OLIVES {Olividce) are distinguished 
by the animals having a large elongate foot, with a 
cross groove on each side, often inclosing a part of the 
shell. The mantle is inclosed, the siphon recurved, 
and the canal of the shell reduced to a notch. This 
is rather a large family, and contains the True Olives, 
the Ancillarice, and the Harp Shells. 
Genus Oliva. — The True Olives have a subcylindri- 
cal, smooth, polished shell, with a deep channeled suture 
round the whirls, and the columella plaited in front. 
The large foot is raised up on each side, in order to 
envelope the shell, and secretes the enameled, shining, 
and brightly-coloured layer, which covers the outer 
surface of the shell. The mantle has an elongated 
appendage, situated behind, and lodged in the deep 
channel of the sutures of the spire. This is a remark- 
able character of the Olives. The species are numer- 
ous, nearly one hundred and twenty recent forms 
having been described. They are carnivorous and 
voracious animals ; are active ; and can turn over when 
laid on their back. Near low water they may be seen 
gliding about, or burying themselves in the mud as the 
tide retires. They are subtropical shells, and have been 
found in America, Western Africa, India, China, and 
the Pacific, from low water to twenty-five fathoms. As 
these shells are much sought after by collectors, they 
are often obtained by fishing for them by a line baited 
with a piece of raw flesh. 
THE PANAMA OLIVE (0. porphyrea), the largest 
and one of the finest species, is a native of the coasts of 
South America. It is marked with numerous fine, 
brown, angular, or zig-zag lines, upon a flesh-coloured 
ground, and frequently attains to five or six inches in 
length. 
Genus Ancillaria. — The Ancillarim, with a sub- 
cylindrical polished shell, have the suture of the spire 
covered with a smooth, shining, thinnish callosity, instead 
of a groove or channel. The mantle is destitute of the 
posterior, elongated appendage of the Olives. The shell 
is more or less covered with a fine coat of enamel ; in 
some species leaving a naked space on the whirls, but in 
others covering the whole shell. This arises from the 
fact, that the foot of the animal is much expanded on 
both sides, and curling upwards and inwards during the 
ordinary progression of the animal, folds itself on the 
