36 TOLUTES. 



may be met with in these shells, whose surface, when the 

 epidermis, or outer skin is removed, bears a beautiful polish. 

 Curious names have been given to some of them, such, for 

 instance, as the High Admiral, Yice Admiral, and Guinea 

 Admiral, which indicate the rank they hold in the estimation 

 of collectors. From five to twenty guineas is the price at 

 which good and rare ones have been valued, and one, the 

 Conus cedo nulli, which may be translated, the Cone second to 

 none, has fetched the enormous sum of three hundred guineas. 

 It must not be supposed that these shells exhibit all their 

 beauties when, inhabited by a carnivorous, or flesh- eating 

 mollusk, they move slowly about, or lie for a time motionless 

 among the rocks and sand-beds of the ocean. The before- 

 mentioned epidermis, which is the Latin for the outer skin 

 of the human body, covers them like a cloak or mantle, 

 which is the name it bears among naturalists. Much careful 

 labour is required to bring them to a fit state for cabinet 

 shells. 



Volutes form an extensive family of shells under the name 

 Volutince. The greater part are natives of tropical seas, and 

 dwell far down so that they are seldom found on the coast, 

 except after storms. There are a few European species, but 

 these are not remarkable for beauty, as most of the others 

 are. The generic name signifies twisted, or rather wreathed, 

 as flowers or leaves might be, about some central object. In 

 these shells the spire is generally short, as it is in many cones, 

 sometimes scarcely apparent; the form is usually elegant, and 

 the markings often striking and handsome. On Plate Y, will 

 be found three examples — Fig. 3 is the Undulated A^olute, 

 (F! undulata,) the Latin for a little wave is imdula, and these 

 marks are like the lines caused by the flowing of the waves 

 on a sandy shore: this shell is found chiefly in the South 

 Pacific; the animal which inhabits it is prettily-marked with 

 zebra-like stripes. Fig. 4 is called the Pacific Volute, ( V. 

 Faclficiis;) the shape, it will be seen, is somewhat difterent, 

 being more angular, and it is without the waved lines. Fig. 

 5, the Eat Volute, ( F. vespertilio,) is more decidedly knobbed 

 or spiked, approaching nearly to the shape of some of the 

 coronated ones. This species is found in the Indian seas; the 

 specific name is the Latin for a bat. 



