COWRIES. 171 
According to the same observer, the minute 
snail-hke shell of the young cowry forms the 
nucleus of that which afterwards grows, and under- 
goes the changes in form already described. The 
young are very active, whirling giddily about 
through the water, and occasionally adhering to 
foreign bodies, not by any disk for the purpose, 
but by means of the dilated expansions of the 
mantle. In the course of growth, these fleshy ex- 
pansions become entirely absorbed, and do not 
ultimately constitute the lobes of the mantle which 
embrace the shell in the adult. 
_ One of the species (C. moneta) possesses an 
interest, as forming a recognised currency in some 
parts of Africa, and of further India. Their value 
in Bengal is said to be as follows: 3,500 cowries 
are equal to one rupee, or about 2s. 3d. sterling. 
They are procured chiefly from the Maldives, and 
the coast of Congo. After the spring-tides, women 
collect the sea-sand in baskets; the cowries are 
then picked out, and heaped up in the sun; the 
animals soon dry up, and the shells, being cleaned, 
are ready for the money-market. 
Many of my readers are doubtless familiar with 
our little native cowry 
(Cyprea Europea). It 
varles in size, from that 
of a split pea to that of a 
large horse-bean. It is 
elegantly marked all over 
with transverse ridges. 
These ridges are por- 
cellanous white, and the alternate furrows between 
are purplish, or flesh colour. The larger specimens 
commonly display three spots of dark brown, 
CYPRHEA EUROPA, 
