Latin Texts & Translations

Let us now pass on to the murex ^[Note] and various kinds of shellfish, which have a stronger shell, and in which Nature, in her sportive mood, has displayed a great variety-so many are the various hues of their tints, so numerous are their shapes, flat, ^[Note] concave, ^[Note] long, ^[Note] crescent-shaped, ^[Note] rounded into a globe, cut ^[Note] through into a semi-globe, arched in the back, smooth, rough, indented, streaked, the upper part spirally wreathed, the edge projecting in a sharp point, the edge wreathed outwards, ^[Note] or else folding inwards. ^[Note] And then, too, there are the various dis-

tinctions ^[Note] of rayed shells, long-haired ^[Note] shells, wavy-haired shells, channelled shells, pectinated shells, imbricated shells, reticulated shells, shells with lines oblique or rectilinear, thick-set shells, expanded shells, tortuous shells, shells the valves or which are united by one small knot, shells which are held together all along one side, shells which are open as if in the very act of applauding, ^[Note] and shells which wind, ^[Note] resembling a conch. The fish of this class, known as the shells of Venus, ^[Note] are able to navigate the surface of the deep, and, presenting to the wind their concave side, catch the breeze, and sail along on the surface of the sea. Scallops are also able to leap ^[Note] and fly above the surface of the water, and they sometimes employ their shell by way of a bark.