Cowry and Pyramid-shells 245 



but restricted to Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, Guernsey, 

 Sark, and a few places on the Irish coast, in the 

 coralline zone. 



The shell of the beautiful though common European 

 Cowry {Cyprcea euroj^cea) undergoes a similar change. 

 At first it is a spired shell, though the spire 

 is very short ; the outer lip is thin and sharp- 

 edged, but as it grows this turns in, thickens, 

 and so reduces the opening considerably. The 

 difference between the young and the adult 

 Cowry shells is so great that the naturalists of a few 

 generations back classed them as belonging to distinct 

 species. When the identity of the 

 animals was proved it was believed 

 that the earlier was abandoned 

 when it got too small, and a new 

 one of a different pattern made 



European Cowry — ■•- , 



from above and below to shcltcr thc morc adult ammal. 

 The animal varies in colour from 

 yellow to pink or brown, but most frequently it is 

 orange. The mantle-lobes, which are covered with 

 yellow or white raised 

 points, and red or purple 

 spots, well cover the shell. 



The ground colour of the X^^ ~^-'^^^^^^^^^P 

 shell is white, but in half- ^" 



European Cowry 



grown individuals this is 



crossed by transverse lines of deep flesh tint. In 

 old specimens the white spaces between these lines 

 become elevated into ridges which are continuous 

 with the ribs that protect the mouth. That part of 

 the shell where the mantle-lobes meet is often marked 

 with three dark brown spots, of which the central one 





