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
And with this curious piece of mechanism the little Winkle works away and
cuts down swathe after swathe of the minute vegetation, just as a mower
does the meadow grass; only the mollusk eats as he goes, and so gets
payment for his labour; the man has it in another and to him more useful
form. We might tell a very long story about these Tops and Winkles, which
are nearly related to each other, but must now pass on to describe the
rest of the shells on Plate IV, which are the Perspective Solarium, (_S.
perspectivum_,) Fig. 5, the generic name comes from _sol_—the sun, and
viewed perspectively, that is, in such a position that the whole top of
the shell is at once presented to the view, looking like a flat surface,
it presents a circular appearance, marked with rings and rays like
representations of the sun sometimes do.
The Variegated Solarium, (_S. variegatum_,) Fig. 6, is a small but very
pretty shell, somewhat rare. The mollusk is remarkable on account of the
singular shape of its operculum, which differs from that of all other
species; it is of a cone-shape, and covered from top to bottom with what
are called membranous lamellæ, that appear to stand out like little
shelves winding up spirally. This singular form of operculum has been
long known to naturalists, but it is not until lately that they have
discovered to what species of testacean it belonged. Let us here explain
that _operculus_ is the Latin for a cover or lid.
CONES, VOLUTES, MITRES, AND OLIVES.
These are names given by collectors to certain classes of univalve shells
distinguished by peculiarities of formation, more or less distinct. We
shall describe two or three of each, that our readers may have some idea
of the meaning of the terms which are often used by those who speak or
write on conchology.
The family of Cones, called _Conidæ_, is an extensive one, considerably
above two hundred species having been discovered. Many of them are very
beautiful both in shape and colour, so that they are highly valued by
collectors; they are principally found in the southern and tropical
seas, upon sandy bottoms, at depths varying from a few feet to seventeen
fathoms. The shells are generally thick and solid, rolled up, as it were,
into a conical form; the most familiar illustration that can be given of
this form is a sugar-loaf, which all these shells more or less resemble
in general outline, as thus—
[Illustration]
Cones are either plain or coronated, that is, crowned, having rows of
projections round the top of the shell, like the second of the above
figures; and this forms a mark of division into two classes, although
these classes often run, as it were, one into the other; some plain cones
having slight irregularities of surface, and some crowned ones being very
nearly plain.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account