192 



WEST COAST SHELLS 



Fig. 184 



Another fine shell found on our 

 southern coast is the one shown in 

 Figure 184, and which is named 

 Cypres a spadicea^ Gray, the Nut- 

 brown Cowry. It is our chief repre- 

 sentative of the great genus which is 

 so abundantly developed in the warm- 

 er oceans. Cowries have smooth, well- 

 rounded shells and are great favorites 

 with the children, who delight to use 

 them as playthings. In fact, they have a great variety 

 of uses, taking the place of money among some of the 

 tribes of Africa, large, mottled ones being used by 

 old ladies to aid them in darning stockings, while 

 certain rare and beautiful specimens were formerly 

 worn by the favored chiefs of cannibal islands as a 

 token of royalty. Certain it is that large, showy cow- 

 ries are now used by the natives of Hawaii as bait 

 to lure the highly prized octopus to their hooks. In 

 the cabinet of the naturalist there are few finer collec- 

 tions than the drawer of choice cowry-shells. When 

 young, the shells are thin and conical, with a short 

 spire and a large aperture. As time goes on the outer 

 lip increases in size and thickness, while the spire be- 

 comes completely hidden under the advancing whorls. 

 Coming back to our one cowry, we may say that 

 in color the lips of this shell are white, while on the 

 back there is a ring of dark brown, with a central 

 part of a lighter shade of the same color. I have in 

 my collection an unusually large specimen which is 

 over two inches in length, but such a size is the excep- 

 tion. This species is found in the south, but never 



