The late Dr. Solander, as it appears from his manuscripts preserved in the library of the late worthy President of the Royal Society, Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. had designated this kind of Voluta by the name of Nobilis; it is a fine shell and not unworthy of that distinguished appellation. It is however certain, that it is no other than a variety of Voluta Scapha of the Linnæan school[4], and as the changing and transposition of names that are sufficiently explicit and well understood can only tend to create confusion instead of aiding the pursuits of science, we can have no hesitation in retaining it under its former designation. As a variety, we admit this shell to be distinct and well defined, and to be so far prominent as to merit a definitive appellation; and it is under this persuasion the term Nobilis, assigned but by Dr. Solander, is subjoined to the specific name Voluta Scapha. This very rare kind of Voluta Scapha is from China, the variety more coarse in its general appearance that constitutes the type of this species, is a native of the Cape of Good Hope. Among the older definitions by which this shell was known among the early writers, we may mention that of the learned Kircher, whose museum of curiosities, extant in the beginning of the last century, contained a shell of this kind, which Bonanni thus describes:—“_Conchylium ea parte latius qua in turbinem desinit sine aculeis, et tuberculis, foramen non rotundum, ut in Purpura et Buccina, sed longum._” Musaei Kircheriani. classis iii. 10. 450. et Bonan. 113. It may not be amiss to observe, in conclusion, that amidst all the improvements which modern naturalists have made in the science of Conchology, Voluta Scapha still remains a Volute among the most approved writers of the present day, while most of those species considered by Linnæus as appertaining to the same genus are removed to other newly-constituted genera. The character of the true Volute, as it is at present laid down, consists in the shell being of an oval form, more or less ventricose, or swollen, the summit obtuse and ending in a kind of papilla, or teat, the base of the shell cut off or somewhat truncated: without canal, and the pillar charged with plaits or folds, of which the inferior ones are the largest and longest. The precise contrary of this is observable in the new genus MITRA, of which _Voluta Episcopalis_ is considered as the type. In this last mentioned shell, the body instead of being ventricose is subfusiform, the spire pointed at the summit, and the lower plaits upon the pillar smaller instead of larger. The contrast between these two tribes will, it is conceived, sufficiently illustrate the characteristic peculiarities of the genus Volute, as it is at present constituted. ----- Footnote 4: