130 POPULAR BRITISH CONCHOLOGY. 



cies ; it is liglit, spiral, with a large aperture, siiiuated in the 

 centre, of a bright purple tint. 



When thrown by stress of weather on the strand, the 

 lantJdna seems perfectly helpless, its so-called foot not as- 

 sisting it to crawl or find its way back to the waters ; so 

 there it lies, staining everything with its own hue. 



This purple stain is very strong, pervading all parts of 

 the shell and animal, and, when numbers of them are cruis- 

 ing " merrily o^er the waters blue,'^ making the said waters 

 blue indeed. The stain remains long on the hands, the 

 handkerchief, paper, or anything else tinted with it. It ap- 

 pears to be used for the same purpose as the ink-fluid of the 

 cuttle-fish; for, when menaced by an enemy, the laniJiina 

 suddenly throws out a quantity of the fluid, and thus hides 

 himself from sight in a cloud of his own making. 



Three species oilanthina frequent our coasts, distinguished 

 by their shells ; that of 



I. communis (or fragiUs) is broader than long, with rather 

 flattened whorls ; it is pale on the upper side, and of 

 a more or less dark tint on the lower. 

 I. pallida is of a globular form and smooth. 

 /. exigua is also globular and wrinkled, with a higher spire 

 than J. pallida. 



