of a rather long snout, or rostrum, and the eyes are upon the outside 



of two long, tapering tentacles, about one-third the distance from the 



body. When the shell is young, it is covered with a thin epidermis, 



and has a thin, sharp, outer lip not unlike some snails ; when it is full 



grown, the outer lip rolls 



inward, becomes toothed 



or ridged, as does also the 



inner lip, and the aperture 



becomes but a long and 



narrow slit reaching from 



the apex to the base of the 



shell. The mantle lobes, Animal of CyprEea tigris crawling, e, eye; f, foot; 



wViipli arp inprrnqnionnim in m, mantle, with tuft-like projections; r, rostrum; s, shell; 

 W1] t, tentacles. (Tryon.) 



the young shell, become 



large, and are reflected over the back, and deposit coat after coat 

 of shelly enamel until the first pattern of the shell, as well as the 

 epidermis, is covered with a secondary, shining coat. On most Cyprceas 

 there is a line of paler color, showing where the two lobes of the mantle 

 meet on the back. Like many other mollusks, the Cyprcea is able 

 to dissolve the internal whorls, and thus enlarge the capacity of its 

 shell. This is also true of Conus. Murex and some other marine 

 shells dissolve the spines which may be in the way when increasing 

 the size of the whorls. The older naturalists, Lamarck and Bruguiere, 

 believed that the Cyprcea was able to dissolve its outer lip after it had 

 been rolled over and toothed, but this theory has been proven incorrect. 

 They founded their belief on the fact that some individuals of the same 

 species were larger than others. This, however, is due simply to indi- 

 vidual variation, just as in man, some are large and others are small. 



" The beautiful colors, which are so much admired, are deposited 

 by the reflected mantle, and their variety is almost endless. Some 

 are perfectly plain white, brownish, yellow, or orange others are 

 spotted with red, white, brown, drab, or black, and still others are 

 variously banded. The eyed cowry, Cyprcea argus, has large, dark 

 brown spots on a lighter background. 



" In form and sculpture the cowries present a rather wide range 

 of variation. The typical form is more or less cylindrical or pyriform, 

 while others are flat, oval, or egg-shaped. The surface varies from 

 smooth to spirally lined and pustulose. In size, they vary from the 

 little Trivia exigua, scarcely one-fourth of an inch long, to the huge 

 Cyprwa testudinaria, nearly five inches in length. Many of the larger 

 species, like the tiger cowry, Cyprcea tigris, and the black cowry, 



107 



