338 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY. 



colourings of their surfaces. Ancient poets were not inat- 

 tentive to their merit : tliej fabled that Venus selected one 

 of the most beautiful for the car that bore her in triumph 

 to the shores of Paphos. Different species of the same 

 interesting genus are used in both hemispheres for purposes 

 of decoration. The females of the North American Indians 

 cover with them the shoes which thej use in dancing, and 

 thus produce a sound somewhat resembling the tinkling of 

 the little bells that were worn on similar occasions by the 

 Jewish ladies : a mode of decoration noticed and repre- 

 hended by Isaiah, in his energetic admonition to the un- 

 thinking daughters of Zion. 



Family XII. Nymphacea. 



Ye have uo voice, whereby to swell His praise. 

 Who called you into being. While the birds 

 Sing loud along the shores, where you have moored 

 Your barks, or else beneath the waters range. 

 That lave their homes, the trees, ye stilly dwell : 

 Nor voice nor sound have ye ; and yet methinks 

 Your beauteous forms, and hues, and varying tints, 

 Speak in the ear of reason, praising Him 

 Who bade the waters teem with such as you. 



Eight genera pertain to this family, namely, Sangiiinolaria, 



