164. 
The Hijlory of A N I M A L S* 
Cardia prof unde fidcata apkihus piano feparatis. 
The deeply furrowed Cardia , with the tops feparated by a plane. 
This is a very Angular fpecies: it is two inches in diameter, and about an inch and 
three quarters from the head to the oppofite verge : the head is formed of two beaks, 
one to each valve j and thefe are rounded and turned inward, as in the others, but they 
do not meet or touch; a little below them there is a plane or flat part of the fhell, in 
which is the hinge* and which keeps them from meeting: the hinge itfelf is of a very 
beautiful ftrudure j the notches of it are as fine as thofe of a file : the valves are 
equal, and are extreamly thick and heavy j they are white, and of the confidence and 
appearance of marble : they are deeply furrowed in a longitudinal direction, or from 
the head ftraight downwards, the furrows widening as they recede from the head, fo 
as to extend over the whole breadth of the fhell } the ridges between thefe are low 
and rounded, and have frequently tubercles on them : there is fomething in this fhell 
that approaches, in fome degree, to that odd fpecies the Noah’s Ark-fhell. 
This is a native of the American Seas $ I have met with it foflile in fand-pits about 
Canterbury* 
Cardia flava cojlata et elegantiffime imhricata . 
The yellow y elegantly ribbed y a?td imbricated Cardia . 
Our cabinets fhew very few more beautiful {hells than this Cardia: it is a large fhell; 
it meafures four inches in diameter, and more than three and a quarter from the hinge 
to the oppofite verge: the valves are equal, and are confiderably gibbofe, fo that the 
cavity within the fhell is large; the furface of each valve is railed into five very large 
ribs, which are rounded at their tops, and ftand at confiderable diftances } thefe run 
from the hinge to the oppofite verge of the fhell: the whole furface is covered with 
elegant tranfverfe plates or flakes, which run from edge to edge, the crois-way hold¬ 
ing their courfe uninterruptedly over thefe ribs, and over the hollows between them : 
thefe plates are thin, fharp, and elevated at their rims above the furface of the fhell, 
and are placed in an imbricated manner over one another : the verge of the fhell is 
undulated and indented, or rather finuated, and the beaks joining at top form a heart: 
the colour of the external furface is a ftrong and elegant yellow ; the infide is of a 
pearly white. 
We have it from the fhore of the Eafl Indies; fometimes from Africa. 
Cardia tr uncat a, coflata y et aliquantulum fpinofa. 
The truncated\ cofiated^ and fomewhat fpinofe Cardia . 
There are no {hells that have, in the fame genus, fo great a variation of fhapes as 
the Cardke : this is extreamly different in figure from the others hitherto defcribed, in 
having one of it’s ends truncated in the manner of the chamae; it is two inches and 
a half in diameter, and about as much from the hinge to the oppofite verge : the 
verge is rounded, and the valves are equal and very gibbofe : one fide from the head 
runs out into a kind of obtufe or rounded extremity, the other is truncated, and the 
mutilated part filled up by two perpendicular lips: the furface of the fhell is ornamented 
with about ten large and rounded ribs; the cavities between them are narrow, and 
longitudinally furrowed, and, on fome of the ribs, efpecially toward the verge, there 
Hand a few fhort and obtufe fpinofe protuberances: the ground colour of the fhell is 
a greyifh-white, but it is elegantly variegated with a fine coral red. 
We have it from the Eafl; Indies, but it is not common in our colledions: I have 
beautiful fpecimens of it foflile from the fhores of fome of the rivers in the Eafl; In¬ 
dies, the fubflance agate. 
Cardia globofa echmata margine dentato. 
The globofe y echinated Cardia^ with a dentated, edge . 
This approaches confiderably to the fhape of the common cockle, or pedunculus 
vulgaris of authors: it is about two inches in length, as much in diameter, and at lead 
as 
Si 
