78 INTEODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY. 



like strife, characterize tlie little Calf Cowry; the Eed- 

 spotted is ornamented on each side ^Tith a single reddish- 

 chestnut spot; and a beautiful economy and dehcacy of 

 bright sienna painting, upon a clear cream-coloured ground, 

 renders the C. SaidcB an object of peculiar admiration. Lastly, 

 the rare and beautiful Orange Cowry, worn as an ornament 

 by chiefs in the Pacific islands, is distinguished by its bright, 

 unspotted, orange teeth and interstices, while the base and 

 sides, and extremities are milk wliite. 



The Ovulaj or Egg-shells, also belong to the family of 

 Convoluta, differing mainly from the Ci/prcBCB in having 

 the extremities more or less prolonged, and in the lip and 

 columella being destitute of the prominent row of teeth 

 which characterize that genus. Another distinction con- 

 sists in the Oviilum having neither any pattern nor design 

 of colour, nor has it any tinge beyond a faint yellow, violet, 

 or pink. 



A distinguished conchologist of Nice, M. Eisso, founded 

 the genus Erato, with a small shell, cliiefly inhabiting the 

 Mediterranean, intermediate in its characters between Cy- 

 pr(Ba and Marginella, and forming a striking link between 

 the families Convoluta and Columellata. 



