Elements of Conchology: According to the Linnæan System ...

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author, and sold, 1815 - Mollusks - 248 pages

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Page 86 - Afyoraimu, a companion of Jason in the celebrated voyage of the ship Argo. The art of navigation is supposed to have owed its origin to the expert management of this instinctive sailor. He was observed by the ancients, and subsequent experience has confirmed the observation, to raise himself to the surface of the sea by ejecting a quantity of water, and thus diminishing the specific gravity of his vessel. When floating in a calm, he would throw out two or more tentacula, to serve as oars.
Page 31 - Striate ; encompassed with very fine raised or excavated lines : punctate striae are those which have elevated or impressed points placed along them ; the points may be concatenate, strung like beads, or perfuse, deeply excavated.
Page 32 - ... lilaliata. Bilabiate; constructed with both an internal and external lip; in opposition to those shells which are destitute of the interior one. dehiscens. Gaping ; the lower part of the lip being distended. coarctala. Coarctate; contracted, straight : opposed to effuse. effusa. Effuse; having the lips separated by a sinus or gutter, so that if the shell were filled with water it would flow out at the back part. reflexa. Reflex ; having the fore part of the lip reflected towards the lowest whorl....
Page 91 - Greek xSivoi expresses the peculiar form to which the genus is indebted for its name. CYPR^EA. A. Mucronate, or with a projecting spire. (Plate XIV. Fig. 1.) B. Obtuse, and without manifest spire. (Fig. 2.) C. Umbilicate. (Fig. 3.) D. Margined. (Fig. 4.) SHELL univalve, involute, subovate, obtuse, smooth. Aperture effuse at both ends, linear, toothed on both sides, longitudinal. The genus is remarkable for the high polish which adorns it in its native state. The only species of other genera which...
Page 104 - The very peculiar form of the aperture in this genus is a strong and never-failing distinctive feature. This is oblong-oval, or perfectly oval, seldom ovate, and does not gradually contract into a canal, but abruptly opens into it at the same or nearly the same width which it continues to retain throughout the whole length of the beak. Even in the division which is destitute of an exserted beak, the same contour is no less observable. The straightness of the rostrum is a much more questionable mark,...
Page 224 - Varech, etc., et sur une petite Coquille qui se loge dans le tronc de cette plante — Méra.
Page 79 - ... the division B. Strong locomotive powers have been attributed to the Pecten, which are, it is said, exerted in a most singular manner. A very rapid progress is effected by the sudden opening and closing of the shell. This is done with so much muscular force, as to throw it four or five inches at a time. In the water, an equal dexterity is evinced by the animal, in raising himself to the surface, directing his course ad libitum, and suddenly, by the shutting of his valves, dropping to the bottom.
Page 234 - Essay towards a Natural History of the County of Dublin. Dublin, 1772.
Page 232 - Paria, 1693, in- 4°, p. 376. POUPART. — Sur la progression du limaçon aquatique dont la coquille est tournée en spirale conique, in Journ.
Page 210 - Sur la formation de la coquille des Porcelaines et sur la faculté qu'ont leurs animaux de s'en détacher et de les quitter à différentes époques, in Journ.

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