40 



COWETES. 



outline to this shell, of which there is a darker- coloured 

 variety of somevv^hat stouter form, called exKstvs — burned or 

 scorched. Of the Poached-egg Cowries there are several species, 

 the most common is called by naturalists Ovulvm ovum, Tig. 4, 

 from ovum — an ^%%'., the back of this shell is much elevated 

 and rounded; it is smooth and white; the inside is orange 

 brown. Some of the Poached-egg group are of a more slender 

 and angular shape, as, for instance, that called the Gibbous, 

 (0. Gihhosa;) the moon when more than half- full, is called 

 gibbous, that is rounded unequally, as this shell. 



Few shells undergo greater changes, both of shape 

 and colour, during the process of growth, than the 

 Cowries, which are called in Prance Porcelaines, 

 on account of their high polish and brilliant hues; 

 a single species in different stages of development, 

 might well be, and often is, taken for distinct 

 shells. Much might be said about the Mollusks 

 which inhabit them, but our present subject has 

 rather to do with their outer covering than their 

 internal structure. Th.e most rare and valuable, if not the 

 most beautiful of these Cowries, is the C. aurora, or aurantium, 

 jVlorning-dawn, or Orange Cowry, a j)erfect specimen of which 

 ha?5 been sold for fifty guineas. There is a very curious 

 shell called the Common AVeaver's Shuttle, {Ocidum^ volva,) 

 generally included in the Cyprea family; of this a i^prescnta- 

 tion will be found on Plate YJI, Pig. 5. This is brought 

 from China. 



