Pvn H,i I'UitlS

DOXAX. 409
and smooth, olivaceous : margins gently curved in front, without
any indentation or sinuosity, obliquely and gradually truncate
on the posterior side, which ends in a blunt and rounded
point and has a slightly angular slope ;
oval and wedge-shaped ;
nearly straight, and on the posterior
anterior margin semi-
dorsal margin on that side long and
side about two-thirds as
long and equally straight, the point of their divergence representing
an angle of about 70 degrees : beetles small, pointed, incurved,
and turned towards the posterior side : ligament very
short, partly prominent, the lower half being
imbedded in the
with thick-
hinge-plate, horncolour : corselet long, rather deep,
ened and somewhat : projecting edges hinge-line set at a very
obtuse : angle hinge-plate thick, much longer but narrower
on the anterior than on the posterior side, abruptly truncate at
the end of the ligament, in consequence of the latter being
partly imbedded in it : teeth, cardinals as in D. vittatus, but
much slighter and ordinarily not so distinctly cloven laterals
;
as in that species, developed in the young but nearly oblite-
rated in aged individuals : inside highly polished and glossy,
tinged with violet, or else milk-white with a flamecolour stain
on the anterior dorsal side, besides a dusky-purple streak near
the beak on that side and two others of the same hue on the
posterior side ; margin closely and minutely crenulated in every
part except the hinge-line : pallial scar slight, with a tongue-
shaped sinus extending from the posterior side about halfway
across the interior of the shell : muscular scars distinct, anterior
triangularly oblong and irregular, posterior smaller and
nearly
circular. L. 0*7. B. 1*35.
Habitat :
In sand, at the low-water mark of springtides,
and at the depth of a few fathoms, in the Channel
Isles and on some parts of the Devonian and Cornish
coasts ) frequently in Ban try Bay among the " Coral-
sand " procured for manure, and which is so productive
of good shells. Leach states that it is common on most
of our shores, and specifies South Wales as one of the
localities ; but, although that was for the greater part of
my life my home and chief " hunting-ground/'' I never
found this species in the
Principality nor learnt from
any of my correspondents
that it had been discovered
there : D. vittatus must have been mistaken for it. The