Also 8 ventle-. [a. Du. wenteltrap winding stair, spiral shell, = G. wendeltreppe.] A marine shell of the genus Scalaria or the family Scalariidæ, esp. Scalaria pretiosa.
1758. H. Walpole, Lett. to Mann, 9 Feb. I have seen a little ugly shell called a Ventle-trap sold for twenty-seven guineas.
1776. Mendes Da Costa, Elem. Conchol., 151. Gualtieri ranks the famous Shell the Wentletrap, or Stair-case, with Vermiculi.
1815. S. Brookes, Introd. Conchol., 157.
1851. S. P. Woodward, Mollusca, 16, note. A Wentle-trap which fetched 40 guineas in 1701 (Rumphius) was worth only 20 guineas in 1753, and now may be had for 3s.!
1861. P. P. Carpenter, in Rep. Smithsonian Instit., 1860, 188. Family Scalariadæ. (Wentle Traps).
