THE MONEY-SHELL. Lu 
A genus of univalve shells, principally worthy 
of remark for brilliancy of colouring, and suscep- 
tibility of taking a high polish,and usually desig- 
nated cowries, has long been used as a medium of 
currency. The animal living in the shell is a 
gasteropodous mollusc, and the money-shell be- 
longs to a species well known in commerce as 
the Cyprea moneta, or money cowrie. This shell 
is the money, the current coin in use by the 
natives of Bengal, Siam, and various parts of 
Africa. The grand supply comes from the 
African coast, where the shells are collected 
by the negresses and exported to various parts 
of the world. Just as the cowrie is used in 
other parts of the world as money, so the denta- 
lium, in North-west America, is applied to a 
similar purpose. 
The form of the shell, as its name at once 
suggests, 1s tooth-shaped; but the tooth, the 
resemblance to which has given rise to the 
name, is the long holding or canine tooth of 
a carnivorous mammal: the holding-fang of 
the dog may be cited as a familiar illustration. 
The tenant of the shell belongs to the family 
Dentaliade. 
The shell has an orifice at both ends, and the 
animal inhabiting it is attached to its calcareous 
VOL. Il. Cc 
