Beauty and Value of Shells. 9 
his buildings, and shapes in which to fashion his 
articles of luxury or utility. 
The most beautiful scroll-work of marble 
chimney-pieces, cornices of rooms, and _ other 
enriched portions of both public and private struc- 
tures, are thcse in which the forms of shells have 
been taken for the patterns of the artistic designs ; 
and how tasteful and appropriate is the employment 
of the shells themselves as ornaments for the 
mautel-piece, sideboard, and chiffonnier. Then, 
too— 
“The rainbow-tinted shell, which lies 
Miles deep at bottom of the sea, hath all 
Colours of skies, and flowers, and gems, and plants.” 
Not only has it grace and elegance of form, but 
it has also richness, and delicacy, and variety of 
colouring. In some species the tints are intensely 
vivid as the shifting lights of the aurora borealis, 
or the glowing hues of an autumnal sunset; in 
others pale and delicate as the first indications 
of coming morn, or the scarcely perceptible tinge 
of a just-expanding flower-bud; in some the 
colours are arranged in patterns, regularly disposed ; 
in others, in masses and blotches, of varying shapes 
and degrees of intensity ; in some again they seem 
to change and melt one into the other, like the 
