This genus was so called from the resemblance which the aperture bears
to the shape of an ear; many of the species are named from their
resemblance to the ears of particular quadrupeds. It is a land-shell,
found chiefly in the East and West India Islands.
Shell thick, solid, more or less smooth, oval, oblong, spire short and
obtuse; aperture entire, oblong, enlarged, ear-shaped, much contracted
behind; edges disunited; right lip sometimes thick and outwardly
reflected; the left or columella with one or more teeth or thick callous
plaits.
Auricula Midæ.
A. Judæ.
A. Sileni.
A. leporis.
A. felis.
A. Dombeiana.
A. coniformis.
A. scarabæus.
A. bovina.
A. caprella.
A. myosotis.
A. minima.
A. nitens.
A. monile.
_A. Judæ._ Judas’s Ear. Pl. 19, fig. 6.
Species thick, oblong, conical, with minute decussated striæ and
granulations; light brown; two plaits on the columella; right outwardly
reflected.
_A. scarabæus._ The Beetle’s Ear.
Species of which the columella has three plaits, and the whole internal
side of the right edge denticulated.
_A. myosotis._ The dwarf Auricula.
Species minute, with two plaits on the columella, and one tooth behind.
_A. Sileni._ Silenus’s Ear.
Species very small, without plaits or teeth.