Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.1): between the years 1826 and 1836 : describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagles's circumnavigation of the globe

546 CATALOGUE — SHELLS. O profunde sulcata, lineis elevatis creberrime plicatis ; valvis posticis valde productis, acuminatis. Habitat ad oras Concepponis et insvlam Childe. Mus. Brit., nost., Broderip, ^-c. This cin-hiped which, at Conception de Chile, is frequently found of a larger size than 5i inches long and 3i in diameter, forms a very common and highly esteemed food of the natives, by whom it is called Pico, from the acuminated processes of the two posterior opercular valves. The anterior and posterior oper- cular valves, when in contact, present some resemblance to a parrot's beak, whence Molina's name. It is also found very abun- dantly at Valdivia and at Calbuco, near the north end of the island of Chiloe. It occurs in large bunches, and presents some- what of a cactus-like appearance. The parent is covered by its progeny, so that lai-ge branches are found composed of from fifty to one hundred distinct individuals, each of which becomes in its turn the foundation of another colony. One specimen in the possession of my friend W. J. Broderip, Esq., consists of a numerous group based on two large individuals. They are collected by being chopped off with a hatchet. At Con- ception, where they are found of larger size than to the south- ward, they are principally procured at the Island of Quiriquina, which lies across the entrance of the bay ; whence they are exported in large quantities to Valparaiso and Santiago de Chile, whei-e they are considered as a great delicacy, and indeed with some justice, for the flesh equals in richness and delicacy tliat of the crab, which, when boiled and eaten cold, it very much resembles. 2. Elminius Leachii.* E. testa albida, truncata, longitudinaliter striata, radiis creberrime longitudinaliter substriatis ; opercido ad basin transversim striata, qundripartito j long, f ; lat. § ; poll. Habitat. In Mnseo Geo. Somerby ct nost. 3. SCALPELLUM PAPILLOSUM. S, peduncido creberrime papilloso ; testd l^vi valde compressd ; long, omnino \^ ; -^^ pedtmculi ; lat. -^g, poll. • Elvninius Kingii, Gray in Zool. Miscoll. from a specimen collected during the voyage. — Ed.