VENUS.
This genus (as a whole) was not to be found in the manuscript System. Its components were distributed into three groups, two of which bore names that were subsequently allotted to forms very remote from those therein so designated.
Cunnus. Testa subrotunda. Rima nymphis instructa. Dentes cardinis 4, lateralibus divaricatis versus latera. This contained the bulk of the Veneres, all except Nos. 63, 66, and those referred to Pholas and Chama.
Pholas. Testa lenticularis. Rima fissa, destituta nymphis. Dentes cardinis 1 s. 2, marginalis tantum intra anum. V. Pennsylvanica, incrustata, punctata, edentula, exoleta, scripta, pectinata, ziczac were its constituents.
Chama. Testa ovalis cum angulo. Cardo dentibus 4 confertis, quorum unus in singula valvula bifidus. In this were located V. literata, rotundata, decussata.
V. Dione. Cun. cordatus, antice pubescenti-spinosus.
The same references to Petiver, Olearius, and Lister were present as in the 'Systema.' The final remark was an addition. The proposed name was C. Veneris.
V. marica. Cun. subcordatus, decussatim striatus, pube lamellosa.
V. Dysera. Cun. testa subcordata, sulcis transversis reflexis, labiis concavis incumbentibus.
Neither "Huic rugæ, &c.," "lævis," nor the synonym of Lister were in the original.
V. Chione. Cun. subovatus, lævis.
The erroneous reference to d'Argenville was not inserted in the MS., from which "lanceolatis," likewise, was absent.
V. maculata. Cun. testa ovato-cordata lævis.
"Lanceolata" and "ovato-oblongus" have been additions. The observation that it was difficult to distinguish this shell (which was not named in the MS.) from the following, would mislead one, since the remark referred to two unpublished species, which it originally preceded.
V. meretrix. Cun. subcordatus glaber, labris gibbis, nymphis apice hiantibus.
C. vulgatus was the name originally designed.
V. castrensis. Cun. suborbiculatus glaber, characteribus scriptus.
V. Meroe. Cun. sutura postica hians.
V. Fimbriata. Cun. subrotundus decussatus rugosus, longitudinaliter striatus.
D'Argenville was not referred to.
V. reticulata. Cun. subcordatus, striis crenatis decussatis, ano cordato.
V. tigerina. Cun. suborbiculatus, striis crenatis decussatis, ano ovato.
The name was an error, having been derived from the "Lingua tigerina" of Rumphius (his figure G., not H.): fuliginosus was the one originally intended.
V. prostrata. Pho. orbiculata, transverse striata, labiis scabro-membranaceis.
The unpublished details had been previously referred to in the 'Systema.'
V. Pennsylvanica. Pho. glabra, rugosa, antice sulco longitudinali.
"Habitat in Pennsylvania," and "subdiaphana," were the unprinted additions. The "margo interne crenatus," "nates sub-recurvatæ," and "color intus versus marginem violaceus," were not in the copy. The last character (so utterly inappropriate to the features of Lucina P.) was, I suspect, intended for punctata on the page opposite.
V. incrustata. Pho. glaberrima lævissima, punctis excavata.
The details were referred to in the 'Systema' before their publication.
V. punctata. Pho. longitudinaliter sulcata.
The G in the reference to Rumphius was a misprint for the written D, from which figure ("Chama pectinata") our author had proposed to borrow the specific name, but subsequently had preferred the published designation. "Klein, 147. Actinobolos æquilatera" has been added to the MS. by Linnæus.
V. exoleta. Pho. decussatim striata.
The original synonymy and details have been so transmuted in the press, that it is manifest that the amended (!) species was perfectly distinct from the shell originally designed. The name of the latter was clathrata, and the declared sculpture was not merely "transversim," but "et longitudinaliter" likewise (in place of "striis retrorsis"). The reference (added by Linnæus) was not to Gualtieri, but to Lister, 335, f. 172, and its copy in Klein (t. 10. f. 52), both which would have more appropriately been assigned to V. reticulata. The V. exoleta having been previously defined in the 'Systema,' this confusion becomes of little importance.
V. ziczac. Pho. striis transversis membranaceis erectis.
The number which indicates the position of this species in the 'Museum' has been subsequently ('Syst.' ed. 12) referred to V. cancellata, yet, judging from the generic appellation (and consequent dentition), it could scarcely have been that well-known species. The "lentiformi" of the 'Systema' (ed. 10), where the name ziczac first appeared, forbids the annexation; but, although the details of the 'Museum' were there referred to, the obnoxious word was not mentioned in that publication. The following are the printed emendations (?): "lævis, et quasi excisa," "compressa," "variat colore albissimo."
V. pectinata. Pho. sulcis longitudinalibus nodosis, antice antrorsum ramosa.
The additional synonym of "Gualt, D. 75, f. A." appears in the MS., where "quam reliquæ" follows "orbiculata," and in place of "In area antica" may be read "et a primo sulco." The details there terminate with the word "lanceolatum," "Ramosa" was the intended name.
V. scripta. Pho. striata, postice angulo recto circumscripta.
The incorrect figure of d'Argenville was not indicated.
V. edentula. Pho. subgloboso-lenticulata rugosa edentula.
V. literata. Cha. transversim striato-ovata.
The earlier reading of confertim was "profunde"; "striis crenulatis antice et postice," "lanceolata," and "tres s." were absent.
V. rotundata. Cha. transversim striata ovata absque angulo.
The printed additions are "varius in variis," "aut albis," "lanceolata," and the final remark. There was no name attached in the MS.
V. decussata. Cha. testa ovata, decussatim striata.
"Sæpe" and "minimus" are the sole printed additions.
Probably the V. Phryne of the 'Systema' was designed by the following unpublished description:—
Cun. venosus. C. subcordatus lævis lateribus rugosis. Testa cinerea, nuce coryli major, gibba, glabra, antice et postice transversim sulcata. Margo exterius tantum denticulatus, non vero apex externus, aut margines laterales.
The V. macrodon answers fairly enough to this definition.