Chapter VI: Part 6

In the arrangement of Cuvier, entitled “_Règne Animal_,” the Mollusca or animal of the Nerita constitutes one of his “_Gasteropodes pectinibranches_,” the character of which as defined by that author is quite as comprehensive and rather less explicit than the Linnæan limaces: he divides them into several families according to the peculiar form of their shells, for collectively almost every genera of the spiral univalves fall under this very general denomination, as well as many of those shells which are simply conic, as in the Linnæan classification they do under that of Limax. Cuvier mentions as a character of this tribe that their breathing apertures, with the exception of a family he calls Cyclostomes, are composed of a number of foliations ranged parallel to each other like the teeth of a comb. They have two feelers, and two eyes usually situated on a pedicle. The greatest difference between these animals consist in the presence or absence of the canal formed by a prolongation of the edge of the pulmonary cavity of the left side, a respiratory organ communicating with others by means of which the animal breathes without quitting its retreat in the water.

According to Lamarck the animal of Nerita has the foot large and short, with two pointed feelers, and the eyes raised upon a papilla at the exterior base of each.

Bosc is less diffuse than either. The animal of the Nerites, he observes, have the head flat and lunate, a little sloping to the two extremities: from the base of the head on each side issues two conic slender horns, one of which is twice the length of the other. The eyes are two little black points placed upon a trihedral tubercule at the exterior base of the horns, the mouth placed underneath the head and formed with a lip, thick and wrinkled. The foot almost round, flat beneath, convex above, and rather shorter than the shell. The mantle or fleshy prolongation entirely covers the interior of the shell and is slightly crenulated at the margin.

Denys de Montfort speaking of the species Nerita Peloronata, a shell abounding on the shores of the Antilles, observes that there are male and female animals of this kind, the two sexes being isolated or distinct individuals; they are of an amphibious nature, living in the sea, from whence they ascend occasionally and crawl about the rocks.

Linnæus under the Nerita genus comprehends as well the imperforated or non-umbilicated kinds as those which have that perforation. The later continental writers divide these again, retaining the name Nerita to those which have no perforation; those with a perforation are called Natica, by the french authors Natice, after Adanson, Gualtieri, and Favanne. Lamarck has also a genus Neritina, and another Navicella, all which in the Linnæan system are of the Nerita tribe.

Nerita Polita is by no means an uncommon shell upon the coasts of the Indian Ocean, being found throughout their whole extent from Japan to the Cape of Good of Hope, and as it appears also upon the shores of many islands in the Indian and the Great Southern Ocean.

Besides being so very abundant in those parts, it may also be observed that no species of the testaceous tribe is more remarkable for the almost endless variety of colours, or the form and disposition of the spots, dots, and lineations, than the individuals of this kind of Nerit. There are, however, some few of its varieties which from being local are far less abundant than the rest, and the shell in particular which we have selected for the most conspicuous object in the annexed plate is one the most important of the number. The prevailing colour of the ordinary varieties is olivaceous, in some paler, in others more inclining to blackish; the charactered marks in general yellowish, triangular or sagittate, and varied with short blackish lines. This is the usual appearance of the back or upper part of the shell, the region surrounding the mouth is white, including the lip, the inside of the mouth yellow, and this latter character appears constant throughout all the varieties of the species. The particular variety which constitutes the chief object in our plate, is of the red banded kind, the bands being diversified with red and white, disposed in spots, and lineations, with peculiar elegance. The varieties of this banded kind are scarce in general, but the particular kind which we have represented is unique, whether regarded for its magnitude, its exquisite perfection, or brilliancy of colouring. We have represented the upper and under surface of this shell, together with the upper and under surface of a shell of the common kind, in order that by the contrast, the beauty of the former might be exemplified with greater perspicuity.

The history of this matchless variety of Nerita Polita is distinctly known: it is one of those shells which were brought from the Sandwich Islands by Captain Cook, when he returned from his first voyage of discovery in the South Seas. It was observed appended to an ornament worn at the breast of one of the natives, and was obtained in exchange, it is believed, for an iron hatchet; the Islander to whom it belonged esteeming it very much, and the English Officer being anxious to possess it. This circumstance of its having been affixed to an ornament worn by one of the savages, explains the reason of the shell being perforated, the hole having been made in order to pass a string through the shell to fasten it on the ornament securely. The shell was presented by Captain Cook to Sir Ashton Lever, in whose Museum it was subsequently deposited; and notwithstanding the defect above-mentioned, this little shell produced at the dissolution of the Leverian Museum, in the year 1806, the sum of nine pounds sterling, at the public hammer.[29] A celebrated collector, the late Mr. Noel Jennings, was the purchaser; and it is understood that on the subsequent dispersion of the collection of Mr. Jennings, which took place a few years ago, that it became, with some other very rare shells of that collection, the property of Lord Mount Morris.

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Footnote 28:

Linnæus describes the animal of the Nerita as a limax, the body of
which is oblong, with a fleshy shield above, and a longitudinal flat
disk beneath: aperture on the right side within the shield: feelers,
four, placed above the mouth: eyes, two, and situated one at the tip
of each of the larger feelers. This character does not exactly accord
with the animal of the Nerita, for in this tribe, instead of the eyes
being situated upon the apex of the longer feelers, they stand each
upon a kind of papilla, situated at the outer base of the longer
feelers. And besides this, it differs in some less material
peculiarities.

Footnote 29:

Fifty-Eight Day (last day but two) lot 87, “_A most beautiful variety
of the Painted Nerita, having three rich pink bands on a dark clouded
ground taken from an ornament worn by a native of one of the Sandwich
Islands._”

END OF VOL. I.

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