The Conchologist’s First Book — Edgar A. Poe, 1839 — reading text

99 CONCHOLOGY. U. apiculatus. © U. camptodon. U. cariosus. U. crassus. U. cylindricus. U. declivis. 1). dehiscens. U. monodontus. U. nasutus. U. ovatus. U. personatus. U. subtentus. U. tetralasmus. 2. Genus Hyria. Animal. As above. Shell. Solid, nacred, equivalve, obliquely triangular, auricu- lated; base straight and truncated; hinge with two projecting teeth, the cardinal divided into numerous radiations, anterior ones smaller, the others lamellar and long. Inhabits the lakes and rivers of America. ‘T'wo species. Hyria avicularis. Hyria corrugata. CONCHOLOGY. 65 3. Genus Anodonta. Animal. As above. Shell. Rather thin, regular, close, equivalve, inequilateral ; summit anterodorsal; hinge entirely without teeth, with a post- apicial lamina; ligament external, dorsal and postapicial, two well marked muscular impressions, besides those of the retractile muscles. Inhabits fresh-water lakes in Europe and America. Forty-nine living species; and many fossil. Anodonta areolatus. Anodonta anatina. A. marginata. A. sinuosa. A. rubens. A. Patagonica. A. anatina. A. cygnea. A. fragilis. A. sulcata. % A. trapezialis. A. cataracta. A. rubens. A. exotica. A. uniopsis. A. crispata. A. intermedia. A. Pennsylvanica. A. glauca. A. maximus. The following species are American. Anodonta magnifica. Lea. Anodonta gigantea. Lea A. Woodiana. 3 A. incerta. us A. angulata. Ft A. Pepiniana. e A. Benedictensis. bs A. plana. $s A, cylindracea. fe A. salmonia. - A. decora. Me: A. Stewartiana. s A. edentula. - A. subcylindracea. __,, A, Ferussacina. re A. Wahlamatensis. _,, A. fluviatilis. 5 A. Wardiana. _ A. Newtonensis. + A. gibbosa. Say. A. Nuttaliana. - A. grandis. ‘3 A. Oregonensis. s A. impura. + A. ovata. a A. suborbiculata. e A. pavonia, + A. undulata. Y A. lugubris. és T* > + 5 i a a >. 7 “ . . : GG. os ?’ CONCHOLOGY, ; oe 7 hi 4. Genus Iridina. . : : Ay, Animal. As above. six Shell. Thin, oval, much elongated, inauriculated ; hinge very ‘long, linear, and crenulated throughout its length, ligament exter- nal and marginal; two distinct muscular impressions. Inhabits the Nile. Six species. Ta Iridina exotica, Tridina Nilotica. I. celistis.* ' I, elongata.* . I. rubens,* I, McMurtria.* “ FAMILY XIV. : vig Cuamacea. Three genera, — ; rg ' 1. Genus Diceras. . ~ Animal. ra a” Shell. Inequivalve, adherent; beaks conical, very large, diverg- ing in irregular spiral contortions; hinge with a large, thick, concave, subauricular tooth in the larger prominent valve; two muscular impressions. One species. Fossil. Diceras ; arletina. * 2. Genus Chama. Animal. Body suborbicular terminated superiorly by a sort of hook; mantle very slightly opened for the passage of a foot, termi- nated at its extremity by a part much narrower than the base; superior lobes of the branchie very short. Shell. Irregular, adhering, inequivalve, inequilateral; summits more or less twisted spirally, especially in the lower valve by which these animals have the faculty of affixing themselves to other bodies; hinge dissimilar, thick, formed by a single lamellous tooth arcuated, subcrenulated, postcardinal and articulated in a furrow of the same form; ligament exterior and postapicial; two large muscular impressions, distant. Seventeen living species. Fight fossil species. Chama damecornis. Chama Florida.* C. crenulata. » CC. eruginosa. C. arcinella. C. decussata. C. cristella. C. ruderalis. * x a en en Di a * * & , ? 7 “> » CONCHOLOGY. a oe 67 fl <7 7 ? + 7 C. Lazarus. _ C. Japonica. 4 gryphoides. = C. limbula. : . unicornis. , C. asperella. - C., radians. C. albida. ~ 5 _ C, croceata. ~ *% : 3. Genus Etheria. ; * Animai. Unknown. . Shell. Adhering, irregular, thick, much nacred, inequilateral, inequivalve ; summits subcephalic, thick, indistinct, in a species of heel, growing longer with age; hinge without teeth, callous, irregular and thick ; ligament subdorsal in the exterior portion of the shell, and prolonged to a point internally ; ; two irregular oblong ‘muscular impressions, one superior and subpostdltor, the other inferior and anterior, with a marginal palleal im pression Inhabits the Indian Ocean. Five species. Etheria elliptica. Etheria semilunata. E. trigonula, E. transversa. E. carteronii. Wt ~ FAMILY XV. Tripacnea. ‘Two genera. 1. Genus T'ridacna. Animal. Body somewhat thick; edges inflated, lobes of the mantle adhering, and united in nearly all their circumference, so as to present but three apertures, the first inferior and anterior, for the egress of the foot, the second superior and posterior for the branchial cavity, the third much smaller and in the middle of the dorsal edge ; two pairs of labial appendages, thin, nearly filiform, in the middle of which is a very small buccal orifice; branchie long and narrow; abdominal muscular mass considerable, and giving issue, as if from a cup, to a thick bundle of byssoid muscu- lar fibres. Shell. ‘Thick, solid, of variable size, regular triangular, inequi- lateral ; summits inclined posteriorly, hinge dissimilar, entirely anterior to the summit; a lamellous precardinal tooth and two o 68 CONCHOLOGY. distant lateral teeth upon the left valve, corresponding with two precardinal lamellous teeth, and one distant lateral tooth upon the right valve ; ligament anterior, elongated ; a large, bifid ; sub- median muscular impression ; another anterior one smaller and less distinct. Inhabits the Indian ocean. Six living species. One fossil species. Tridacna gigas. Tridacna crocea. T. squamosa. T. mutica. T. elongata. -. 'T. serrifera. 2. Genus Hippopus. Animal. As above. Shell. More elongated and inequilateral than in the Tridacna, the anterior side being longer than the posterior ; the posterior " lope closed with a dentated margin. Inhabits the Indian seas. One species. - Hippopus maculatus. FAMILY XVI. Myritacea. Three genera. 1. Genus Mytilus. Animal. Body oval, somewhat inflated ; mantle open in its inferior half only, and terminated posteriorly by an oval cleft with fringed edges ; a linguiform, canaliculated, abdominal appendage, with a byssus at its base behind, and several pairs of retractile muscles; mouth with simple lips; two contractile muscles, of which the anterior is very small. Shell. Of a serrated tissue, elongated more or less oval, some- times subtriangular, equivalve, summits anterior, more or less curved, sloping inferiorly in a slight degree; hinge toothless, or with two very small rudiments; ligament dorsal, linear, subinte- rior inserted in a narrow and very long furrow ; two muscular impressions, of which the anterior is very small, besides those of the retractile muscles. Inhabits the British seas. Thirty-six species. Mytilus erosus. Mytilus Magellicanus. CONCHOLOGY. 69 M. decussatus. M. crenatus. M. elongatus. — -M. hirsutus. M. Zonarius. — M. latus. M. violaceus. M. ungulatus. M. smaragdinus. M. opalus. M. edulis. M. corneus. M. Hesperianus. M. retusus. M. exustus. M. perna. M. ovalis. M. bilocularis. M. Domingensis. M. ustulatus. M. Afer. M. Senegalensis. M. ungularis. M. achatinus. M. borealis. M. planulatus. — M. angustanus. M. Galloprovincialis. S M. lacunatus. M. lineatus. ‘ M. incurvatus. M. canalis. M. abbreviatus, M. sanguineus. 2. Genus Modiola. Animal. As above. Shell. Smooth, subtransverse, equivalve, regular, subtriangular, posterior side short; summits nearly lateral; hinge toothless> linear and lateral ; ligament partly interior, situated in a marginal furrow ; one sublateral, elongated muscular impression in each valve. Inhabits the British seas. Twenty-five species. Modiola Guyanensis. Modiola Papuana. M. pulex. M. tulipa. M. discors. M. albicosta. M. cinnamorea, M. vagina. M. plicata. M. picta. M. lithophaga. M. sulcata. M. Adriatica. M. plicatula. M. discrepans. M. semifusca. M. trapezina. M. purpurata. M. silicula. M. carbata. M. semen. M. caudigera M. levigata. M. squamosa. M. securis. 70 CONCHOLOGY. 3. Genus Pinna. Animal. Body oval, elongated moderately thick enveloped in a mantle closed above, open below, and especially to the rear where it forms sometimes a sort of tube furnished with tentacular cirrhi : a flabelliform abdominal appendage, and a very considera- ble byssus ; mouth provided with double lips, beside two pairs of labial appendages ; a single large retractile muscle apparent. Shell. Subcornate, fibrous, brittle, regular, equivalve, longi- tudinal, triangular, pointed anteriorly, in which direction is the summit, which is straight, wide, and frequently truncated poste- riorly ; hinge dorsal, longitudinal, linear, toothless; ligament occu- pying nearly all the dorsal edge of the shell; a single and very wide muscular impression posteriorly ; a trace of the anterior in the summit. Inhabits the Mediterranean sea. Fifteen species. Pinna rudis. Pinna flabellum. P. seminuda. P. angustina. P. nobilis. _ ’P. squamosa. P. marginata. P. muricata. P. pectinata. P. saccata. P. ingens. P. dolabrata. P. varicosa. P. vexillum. P, nigrina. FAMILY XVII. Maxrieacea. Five genera. 1. Genus Crenatula. Animal. Unknown. Shell. Irregular, much flattened, subrhomboidal, subequivalve, gaping posteriorly ; summit anterior; hinge longitudinal, dorsal, toothless ; ligament submultiple, or inflated from place to place, and inserted in a series of round cavities corresponding with the dorsal edge ; muscular impression unique and subcentral.. Inha- bits the Red sea. Seven species. Crenatula modiolaris. Crenatula bicostalis. CONCHOLOGY. 71 C. avicularis. C. viridis, C, nigrina. C. mytiloides, C. phasianoptera. 2. Genus Perna. Animal. Body much compressed, the mantle prolonged pos- teriorly in a sort of lobe, and fringed at its inferior edge only; a byssus ; a single contractile muscle. Sheil. Irregular, much compressed, subequivalve, form some- what variable, gaping at the anterior part of its inferior edge; summit very small: hinge straight, vertical, buccal, toothless ; ligament multiple, and inserted in a series of longitudinal and — parallel furrows ; a subcentral muscular impression. Inhabits the Indian seas. Ten species living. Two fossil; one found in France and one in Virginia. Perna ephippium. Perna sulcata. P, isognomon. P, vulsella. P. femoralis. P. nuclea. P, marsupion. P, avicularis. P. obliqua. P, canina. 3. Genus Walleus. Animal. Imperfectly known, but certainly byssiferous, with a single retractile muscle. % Shell. Subnacreous, irregular, subequivalve, inequilateral, generally much auriculated anteriorly, and prolonged posteriorly into the body, so as to present some resemblance to a hammer ; summits entirely anterior ; between them and the inferior auricle, an oblique slope for the passage of the bissus: hinge linear, very long, buccal, toothless ; ligament simple, triangular, inserted in a conical oblique pit, partly external ; a moderately large subcentral muscular impression. Inhabits the Australian seas. Six species, Malleus normalis. Malleus vulsellatus. M. vulgaris. M. anatinus. M. albus. M. decurtatus. 72 CONCHOLOGY. iv 4. Genus Avicula. Animal. Body much compressed; mantle cleft throughout its circumference, except along the back, and garnished at its free edge with a double row of very short tentacular cirrhi; foot small, canaliculated ; a byssus; mouth surrounded with fringed lips, besides two pair of labial appendages, a large contractile muscle, nearly posterior. Shell. Foliaceous or not; always nacred, subequivalve, of a subregular form, but somewhat variable; valves oblique, the left one with a little notch, through which the byssus passes; hinge linear,