The Whelk. 4,7 
you will see is spira, anda glance at the shell will at 
once suggest a reason for this; its long tapering 
spire consists of twenty-three closely-set gradually 
increasing whorls. This is a rare shell, whose 

inhabitant has not yet been described by naturalists; 
several of the marine species closely resemble it in 
shape. Much more might be said about the Land 
and Fresh-water Shells, but we must here leave 
them, having a wide field before us—namely, the Sea 
or Marine Yestacea, one of the most common of 
which is 
THE WHELK, 
A univalve shell inhabited by a gasteropod mollusk, 
or, we should rather say, naturally so tenanted, for 
very frequently it is taken possession of by the Soldier 
or Hermit Crab, which having no hard covering to 
protect their soft plump bodies, are obliged to take 
lodgings where they can get them, and generally 
prefer the Whelk shell, of which we here give a 
figure. 
This is one of the commonest of our Marine 
