PANDORA.
J23
The shape of the shelly its nacreous substance^ and the
absence of an external ligament are the chief characteristics that distinguish this small family. The two genera
which compose it have a different hinge- structure, but
are in other respects so closely allied, that it is more
convenient to place them together. The Pandoy^idce
inhabit sand at various depths.
Genus I. PANDO'RA*, Hwass. PL I. f. 4.
Body oval, compressed on one side and rather tumid on the
other, thin, and gelatinous : (jills free, except at their bases,
where each pair is united, and terminating in the tubidar
sheath : palps short : foot small, thick, and swollen at the
point.
Shell oval, inequilateral, scaly and smooth ; left valve flat
and the other convex : epidermis membranous and thin : teeth
consisting of a plate-hke cardinal in each valve : pallial scar
pitted at intervals : muscular scars well marked, roundish-oval.
The merit of instituting the genus Pandora is due to
Hwass, a German justiciary, and not to Bruguiere as is
commonly supposed. Both gave the same species (Tellina inaquivalvis, Linne) as the type. This is clearly
shown by the 11th volume of Chemnitz (p. 211), which
was published between two and three years before the
' Encyclopedic Methodique.^
Carpenter has remarked
the complete conformity that exists between the shells of
the present genus and Avicula, —namely, in the regular
prismatic arrangement of the cellular structure, the axes
of the prisms being perpendicular to the surface ; in the
presence of distinct partitions between the cells, forming
a persistent membrane, which is left after decalcification
and in the truly nacreous interior. The genus appears
to be of comparatively recent origin; for (according to
"^ A invTl}oIoaieaI ci.aractcr.
J23
The shape of the shelly its nacreous substance^ and the
absence of an external ligament are the chief characteristics that distinguish this small family. The two genera
which compose it have a different hinge- structure, but
are in other respects so closely allied, that it is more
convenient to place them together. The Pandoy^idce
inhabit sand at various depths.
Genus I. PANDO'RA*, Hwass. PL I. f. 4.
Body oval, compressed on one side and rather tumid on the
other, thin, and gelatinous : (jills free, except at their bases,
where each pair is united, and terminating in the tubidar
sheath : palps short : foot small, thick, and swollen at the
point.
Shell oval, inequilateral, scaly and smooth ; left valve flat
and the other convex : epidermis membranous and thin : teeth
consisting of a plate-hke cardinal in each valve : pallial scar
pitted at intervals : muscular scars well marked, roundish-oval.
The merit of instituting the genus Pandora is due to
Hwass, a German justiciary, and not to Bruguiere as is
commonly supposed. Both gave the same species (Tellina inaquivalvis, Linne) as the type. This is clearly
shown by the 11th volume of Chemnitz (p. 211), which
was published between two and three years before the
' Encyclopedic Methodique.^
Carpenter has remarked
the complete conformity that exists between the shells of
the present genus and Avicula, —namely, in the regular
prismatic arrangement of the cellular structure, the axes
of the prisms being perpendicular to the surface ; in the
presence of distinct partitions between the cells, forming
a persistent membrane, which is left after decalcification
and in the truly nacreous interior. The genus appears
to be of comparatively recent origin; for (according to
"^ A invTl}oIoaieaI ci.aractcr.