Medical properties of the Passijlora. 131

One more phen6menon remains to be observed before I close, which is that I made several experiments with the roots of this Passiflora, whose stalks had been cut close to the grouod, and thus kept during five months without allowing the growth of any sprouts. The infusion of these roots produced scarcely any deleterious effects. I would also add, that the leaves and buds of the Cecropiapeltata Pers. are frequently used, when boiled, to counteract the poison of the P . quadrangularis.

NOTICE of several species of SHELLS. By D. H. BARNES. Read 5th April 1824.

1. GENUS. CYPREA.

OBS E HV ATI ON S . THE natural family of the Cyprae is numerous and beau-

tiful. The generic character of Linnt is so accurate that none of the moderns has tho!ght it necessary essentially 'to alter it, or to distribute its constituents into new genera. The perfect shells are, every where, instantly recognised, and the number of species, determined by the best observations, ex- ceeds sixty. The imperfect shells give the student, occasion- ally, a little trouble. Even Lind described more than one species, under several different names. attributed' to the singular changes of form, size, and color, which the shells undergo, in the different stages of theh growth. At first, they very much resemble a Volute, rolled up cylin- drically, with an exserted spire and ecaudate base. They next assume the form of a BuZZa, with no appearance of teeth on the inner lip, and .very- little on the outer. Lastly the aper- ture is contracted, toothed on both sides, and'extended the full length of the shell; the colors deepen, the polish becomes brilliant, the size is diminished, arid the weight increased. Another cause of mistake, which seems hitherto to have been overlooked, in part at least, is the clworticntion of specimens.

This mistake is to

132 Notice of several species of Shells.

1 laid before the Lyceum, or a former occasion, a suite of spe- cimens, showing that the Cyprea lo& and c,. spurca were the same species; the former, which are white, being the decorti- cated specimens of the latter, which are yellow and spotted. When this species arrives at maturity it is less than in its younger state, but more thick, solid, and extended at tbe base. In this state the outer coat, which contains the color, is very thin, and can easily be detached, leaving the polish nearly or quite as brilliant as before, and the shell perfectly white, ex- cept a row of impressed hollow dots round the margin, in which the origins\ yellow remains. We have this species in every stage of the alteration, from the cracking of the yellow enamel, to the completely white specimens. It is probable that several other species, as they now stand in the boolts, will prove to be merely varieties of their congeners. But so long as form, color, and surface are made the distinguishing charac- teristics of shells, we must continue to describe separately each of those that are, in these respects, materially different. For this reason, I have determined on a new description af the two following beautiful shells. They are either undescribed, or imperfectly described in the books, and therefore require a new description, to render them intelligible. They are both oriental, aud might long since have been submitted to the Ly- ceum, but for a desire to examine with all due care the seventfi volume of the great work of Lamarck, entitled Histoire Na- iurelle des Jrhnaux sans VettZbres.

S P E C i E S .

Shell ovate, gibbous ; back chcsriut with white spots; base dilated ; margins thickened arid spotted with dark browr.

Notice of several species of Shclts. 133

C. testi ova& gibtosi; dorso castaneo, maculis albis ir- regularibus notato ; infimg facie dilatati ; lateribus incrassa- tis, atro-fusco tiotatis.

Length 2.2-3. Breadth 1 *8-% Height 1%- 1 *5 inches.

C . Aralica. Burrow’s Elemeuts, pl. 14, fig. 1 ? Lamatck’s An. S . V. vol. 5 , page 330.’

(( (b) Var. lateruin angulo cniiiiciitiore, dorso rnaculis ir- regularibus notato.”

Inhabits the East Indies.

My collection. Presented hy 3lr. G . C. Deltay.

Cabinet of the Lyceum.

DESCRIPTION

The general outline of this shell resembles that of the Cy- p r e a Nuuritiana, or Cypraa caput serpentis, being triangu- larly gibbous, ovate, with the margins thickened, dilated, and nnsular ; base somewhat flattened and slightly convex. The color 011 the back much resembles that of the CpraaJMau- ritiana ; the spots are less and of a lighter color. The thick- ened sides are marked with dark browti spots, and there is also a large one on the center of the pillar lip. Teeth dark brown.

REMARKS.

Burrow says that the variety described by him might, with- but impropriety, form a distinct species ; and indeed the pre- sent shell, though larger, much more resembles Cypraa caput serpentis, than it does the common specimens of Cypraa .!lrabica.

2. CYPR.EA E B U R N E A . ~ h o r y Coroy. P1. IX. Fig. 2.

I34 Notice cij' seberal sf ic ies of Shells.

(I. test& laevi, nitidk albi, globosa ; utrinque rostrat? ; labro ruperni: crenulato ; intus fuscii.

Length 1.8. Brkadth 1-13. Height 1 inch,

Iiihabits the Coast of China.

Cabinet of the Lyceum.

My collection.

DESCRIPTION AND REMARKS.

Color pure snow white, on the back, sides and base ; iu- side brown ; sutface smooth and highly polished. The body of the shell is ventricose, and the extremities somewhat pro- duced. The outline resembles the Bulla ouum of' L i n n t , and the genus O V U ~ Q of Lamarck. I therefore conjecture that the Cypraa ovulnta of Lamarck, is the yourig of this species ; for, although his description is very short, it coiitairis three characters of a/ young shell, viz. '' Jlperture very wide, teeth of the colurnella very small, and shell thin (mince). These three characters are not Couiid in thepresetit shell, and they may serve to distinguish it from the Cypraa owdata, sl~ould these prove to be different species. Lnrnarck does not mention the beaked extremities, nor the brown inside ; charac- ters probably not apparent in the young shell. He gives the leugth 8.5 French lines, (12 to the French inch,) by which it ap- pears that the present shell is more thanfour times as large as his Cyptnn ovu2aia. This is a very beautiful shell, of which a perfect specimen is rare, though water-wokn ones are not uncommon. They are of a brownish cast, and so altered in appearance, as to be known only by their size aud general outline.

Notice of several species of Shells. 135

2. GENUS. DOLIUM. D’Argenuille, Lamarck.

Shell thin, ventricose, i igated, often sub-globose, rare23 ob- long, transversely ribbed ; outer lip through its whole length dentrite or crenate. Aperture longitudinal, base emarginate.

Buccmunr. t i n & Systema Naturae, p. 1196. ‘( QAinpullacea injlata, rotundata, tenui-subdiaphana, fra-

h 4 ’ s . ”

BUCCINUM. DilZwyn’s Recent Shells, p. 582. ‘( 5 Injlnted, rounded, thin, slightly transparent, and btitt2e.”

S P E C I E S.

UOS.IUM DEXTATUM? Toothed Tun. P1. IX. Fig. 3.

Shell ova t e-glo bose, vent r i cos e, im pe r fo r a t e , whit - ish flesh colored ; with seventeen obtuse ribs ; colu- mella armed mith’a solitaryand somewhat double tooth above, and furnished with two or three oblique plaits below ; outcr Zip reflected, making an angle with the body. 0

D. tests ovato-globash, ventricoss, imperforat;, aibido- carneo1;i ; costis septemdecimis obtusis ; columellA supernii dente solitario subgeminoque armatii, infernk plicis duabris vel tribus obliquis instruct; ; labro angulato-reflexo.

Length 2.7. Breadth 2-2. Height 1.8.

Inhabits the coast of Peru. Capt. Middy .

Cabinet of the Lyceum.

Presented by Captain Wm.. Skiddy, of the ship General Brown.

136 Notice of several‘species of Shells.

DESCRIPTION.

Shell without colored markings, glabrous, with seventeen ribs, of which the upper ones i\rt! more prominent and distant, with a small elevated line between them ; spire channeled by the projection of thc highest rib j inner lip expanded over the columella and thiii ; outer lip bent suddedy outward, and foriiiitig an acute angle with the body whirl, not thickened, with all the ribs passing over it ,to the extreme edge, which is acute and slightly bent inward ; with fifteen sharp teeth on the inner angje, of ~vhich the uppermost three are double ; Colu- mella with a largc obtuse solitary tooth on the upper part, a deep hollow in the middle, and two or three promineirt oblique plaits below ; base riot uiiibilicated ; spire pervious to the sum- mit, as though it had been rolled round a small straight wire.

A pretty shell, which niay be added as an eighth species to ttrc seuen described by Lamcrrck. N. B. The figure of this shell is half, the others full size.

3. GENUS. NATICA. Briiguiires, Lamrtrck.

Shell sub-globose, umbilicated. Jpertute entire,semi-circular. Inner lip oblique, toothless, callous : the cullosity contracting and sometimes covering the umbilicus. Outer. l i p acute, within smooth . dl n ope rcu lu n .

NATICA PATULA. Sotuerly.

Shell sub-orbicular, depressed. thin, wrinkled: brown, with a white margin ; umbilicus broad, patu- lous and spiral, with a pillar i i i the ceirter capped by

Noiice of several species of Shells. 137

a flattened callus ; lips joined by a very thin cal!os- ity ; mouth ernarginate. by the penultimate whirl !

NATICA PATULA. Sowerby Zoo1 Vide ejus descriptionem 1. c. et PI. 5. Fig. 4.

. Jour. Vol. 1, p. 60. figuram pulcherriinam.

Transverse 2.1 inch. Axis -80 Conjugate diameter 1.3 f . Inhabits the coast of Peru. Cabinet of the Lyceum.

Capt. Skiddy.

REMARKS.

The beautiful and rare shell here indicated was descrhed, and the description ready for the press, when my friend, Dr. Dekay, put into my hands the London Zoological Journal, of which the first number has been lately received, in which 1 find au excellent figure and full description of the same. 1 therefore erase the specific name Helicoides, which I had cho- sen, and insert Sowerbyls Pafula, thougb, in\ my judgment, less expressive of the form of the shell than the other, which describes a conformation of the mouth so peculiar to this shell, so unusual i.n a Natica, and so much resembling the aperture of the Helices, that the friend above named strongly advised the constitution of a new genus to receive this specimen, as the genus He& is, by modern naturalists, confined exclusively to land shells. I have a shell, from the East Indies, wbich bears a strong resemblance to the Natica paiu2a above de- scribed. It is perhaps that species in its full-grown and perfect state ; for the thinness and fragility of the N.’paiuZu stro-ngly indicate a youthful and iinperfect state ; especially when it is ,

observed that the general habit of the genus Nutica, is thick and strong. The shell to which I have alluded is of a mid- dling thickness, between the Natua patula of SQwerby and the Natica duplicata of Say. It has the colors and general aspect of the former, and measures

Axis 1.5. Conjugate 1.9. Transverse 2-3 inches. 18

138 Notice of several species of Shelts.

The mouth would also be emarginate, was it not for the large callus which covers the body whirl, and unites the two lips. I take it to be the sheli indicated by Mr. Say, as the second variety of his Natica duplicata, although it is without the black line he mentions ; which, I believe, is often the case with that species in its perfect state. Should the Natica pat& prove to be immature, Mr. Say will be entitled to the prior- ity ; and however different the thin, fragil, and depressed shell may, dt first sight, appear from our thick, solid, and elevated one, if intermediate links are found to connect them, they ought all to be denominated Natica duplicata of Suy ; as we have already too many species enumerated in the sys- tems ; species in the animal organization of which the nicest scrutiny cannot detect a diflerence ; and it is, doub*ss, upon the anirna2 organizafion that all true distinctions must ulti- mately depend.

4. GENUS. VOLUTA. Lamarck.

Shell ovate, more or less ventricose ; ape* papilla3 ; base Pillar plaited ; lower plaits emarginate, without channel.

larger and ntore oblique. Without a pillar lip.

OBSERVATIONS

The Lamarckian genera Auricula, Tornatella, Turbinella, &cellaria, Colombella, Mitra, Marginella, Volvaria, AnciI- laria and Oliva, havingbeen separated from the Linnaean ge- nus Voluta, leave us but a comparatively small space in which to search for a new species of this genus. This space is sub- divided into four sectioas :

1. Cylnbiole : Veotricose, as YoZuta melo. 2. Muricince : Oval and spinous or tuberculous, as Vol ta

3. JIusica2es : Oval aad sub-tuberculous, as YoZuta musics, imperialis.

h'otice of severat species of Shells. 139

4. Fusoidea: Elongated and spiadle shaped, as VoZata fipesttis.

Linnd assumed the pZcrited pillar as the generic distinction of the Volutes, and this included, under the same genus, laud and sea shells, and yet the Lamarckian genus Fuscioloria, (Murex tulipa,) having a plaited pillar, was included under the genus Murex. The shell under copsideration might be arranged with the Marginella, on account of its having a va- rix on the outer lip, but then it so much resembles the third division of the Volutes, the Musicales, that I have assigned it a place among them ; and as it is ribbed longitudinally, in tbe manner of the Hwp Shells, I have denominated this

S P E C I E S ,

VOLUTA HARPA.* P1. Ix. Fig. 4-

Shell oval, smooth, whitish flesh-color with darker bands, formed. by the union of chesnut and yellow spots; longitudinally ribbed; columellawith the lower three folds larger ; outer lip furnished with an obtuse varix on the outside, and a solitary tooth within.

V. tests ovali, laevi, albido-carneol2, castaneis rufisque ma- culis seriatim transversh' picti& longitudinaliter costat; ; apice acut; ; labro extus varice obtusi instruct0 ; intus unidentato, columella plicis tribus 'inferioribus, majoribus.

Length 1.2. Breadtb -67. Diameter -55.

Inhabits the coast of Peru. Copt. Skidddy. Cabinet of the Lyceum.

REMARKS.

A beautiful shell, and as far as I can find, unknown. It. is thick and strong, has a permanent varix on the outer lip ; and

140 Notice of seucral specie3 of Shells.

the aperture, at the base, emarginate and even truncate. i have seen but two specimens.

(To be continued.)

OBSERVATIONS on the North J4merican species of the GENUS By Captain JOHN LE CONTE, of the United RumLiA.

States’ Army, F. L. S. &c. Read May 3d 1824.

THE genus RtceZZiu, of which so many species are enumer- ated in the books, appears to be chiefly confined to tropical regions. It is my design nt present to examine these ; to determine and to distinguish the true species from varieties ; and to correct the errors wliic4 a want of proper attention has introduced among them.

In doing this, the number of species will be diminished. In- stead of reckoning five, ~e number allowed by our latest writers, I shall admit but three species already known, and propose one as new, whose characters are strikingly distinct from my hitherto described. I have paid much attention to these plants, and do not hesitate to speak with confidence about them, as my observations were all made on living speci- mens.

I. R. strepens : erect ; leaves ovate, lanceolate-ovate, or cuneate (that is, oval attenuated at the base), shortly petioled, entire or repand, undulate, more or less ciliate at the base, sometimes smooth, but generally with a few scattering hairs on either surface ; peduncles axillary, very short, for the most part three-flowered ; divisions of the calyx linear, rather shorter than the tube of the corolla, scarcely hairy ; corolla subequal, lilac or white ; stamina equal. 3. Varies exceedingly : the stem is sometimes hairy; the shape of the leaves is very in-

Our own country can, however, boast of a few.