Beautiful shells : $b Their nature, structure, and uses familiarly explained; with directions for collecting, cleaning, and arranging them in the cabinet; descriptions of the most remarkable species, and of the creatures which inhabit them; and explanations of the meanings of their scientific names, and of the terms used in conchologyAdams, H. G. (Henry Gardiner)
Science
Beautiful shells : $b Their nature, structure, and uses familiarly explained; with directions for collecting, cleaning, and arranging them in the cabinet; descriptions of the most remarkable species, and of the creatures which inhabit them; and explanations of the meanings of their scientific names, and of the terms used in conchology
Adams, H. G. (Henry Gardiner)
Shells; Shells -- Identification
This is the commonest representative which we have of the family
_Turbinidæ_, which comprehends, according to Cuvier, all the species
which have the shell completely and regularly _turbinated_, that is, if
we translate the Latin word into English, twisted. The little Periwinkle,
(here he is,) is by no means a handsome mollusk, but some of his
relatives are very beautiful as we shall presently show. He is called
by naturalists _T. littoreus_, from _littoralis_—belonging to the shore,
and often eaten by boys and girls with great relish; but he is not very
digestible, and sometimes occasions dangerous disorders. The Swedish
peasants believe that when the Periwinkle crawls high upon the rocks, a
storm is brewing from the south; but Linnæus quotes a Norwegian author
to shew that according to popular belief, it foretells the approach of a
land wind with a calm on shore. Man may learn much of elemental changes
from an observation of the movements and habits of all living creatures,
which are instructed by God to provide for their safety and wants, and
often perceive, long before man himself does, the indications of calm
and tempest, rain and drought, etc. But our little _Turbo_, what of him?
will you boil him, and pick out his curled-up form with a pin? or let him
go crawling about the rocks, feeding upon the delicate earlier growth of
marine vegetation? In the former case, you will have to reject the little
kind of horny scale attached to his foot, which forms, when he retires
into his habitation, a closely-fitting door to make all snug.
Several species of this genus are found on our shores; one of those is
the _Turbo rudis_, or Red Turbo, which has a very thick periwinkle-like
shell, about three-quarters of an inch long; the colour is dull red,
fawn, or drab.
Of the foreign _Turbinæ_, sometimes called Turban Shells, we will now
introduce two or three species, which will be found on Plate III. Fig. 3
is the Marbled Turbo, (_T. marmoratus_,) from the Latin _marmor_—marble;
a large handsome shell well known to conchologists, and a native of the
Indian seas. Fig. 4 is the Twisted Turbo, (_T. torquatus_;) this shell,
when deprived of its outer coat or layer, is beautifully _nacreous_, or
if we may so speak, mother-of-pearly. The specimens which have reached
England were brought from King George’s Sound. Fig. 5 is called Cook’s
Turbo, (_T. Cookii_:) this is a handsome South Sea shell, oftentimes
of large size. It has been found in great numbers on the coast of New
Zealand.
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