THE COWRIES, SHELL MONEY, AND 

 THE ROCK SHELLS 



THE COWRIES 



For some time, our quartette had been anxious to learn more in 

 regard to the cowries, shell money, and the rock shells; so one rainy 

 day, we induced the Professor to give us a talk on these subjects. 

 We comfortably seated ourselves in his sitting-room at the hotel, and 

 spent a profitable afternoon listening to his instructive words. We took 

 notes from time to time, and were able to remember many of the 

 interesting facts which he gave us. Though the rain prevented the 

 fulfillment of our plans for adding to our collections of specimens, we 

 all decided that the rainy day proved a ^ red letter day ' in our 

 search for information. 



The Professor placed himself in the center of the group and began 

 by saying, that among marine mollusks none stand so favorably in the 

 eyes of collectors, or are as beautiful as the Cyprseas, or cowry shells. 

 With their glossy coats and varied colors they are indeed gems of the 

 ocean, and it is but little wonder that the conchologist has placed 

 them first among the many families of marine shells. 



He then continued : " The name Cyprcea is from Cypris, one of the 

 names of the goddess Venus. About two hundred recent species have 

 been described, and they are found in nearly all parts of the world, 

 though more numerous in the tropics and subtropics, where they live 

 on coral reefs and under rocks. As in many other genera of shells, 

 the cowries that live in the tropics are more brilliantly colored than 

 those from more temperate climes; a condition which is due to the large 

 amount of sunshine and the high temperature, both of these factors 

 being essential to the secretion of coloring matter in the pigment cells 

 of the animal. 



" The animal which inhabits a cowry shell is a curiosity. The foot 

 is large and spreads out in a wide mass, enabling the animal to glide 

 along quite rapidly. The mantle lobes are folded over the back of the 

 shell, and are beset with many little tuft-like organs, which stick out 

 like the young shoots of a plant. The mouth is placed at the end 



106 



