270 WEST AMERICAN SHELLS 
any other species. Think of a smooth, black skin, 
rounded like a whale’s back, and set with eight lit- 
tle shelly plates, and you will get the idea. The 
plates, where they are not covered, are white; else- 
where they are dark brown. The figure shows the 
appearance of a small specimen, for they some- 
times grow to a length of 75mm. This species 
thrives especially in the far north, but it extends 
southward to Catalina Island. The soft parts are 
salmon colored, at least in the northern specimens. 
It is eaten raw by the natives of the northwest 
coast. 
Amicula pallasii, Midd., the Concealed Chiton, 
has a shell nearly concealed by the hairy mantle, 
which is nearly cireular, and which covers the back 
of the animal except for eight small holes. This 
mantle, or girdle, bears unequal bunches of red- 
dish hairs. Its length is 67mm. It lives in far 
northern waters. 
Cryptochiton stelleri, 
Midd., the Giant Chi- 
ton, Figure 303. We 
close our descriptions 
of West American 
Shells, with an account 
of this remarkable mol- 
lusk. The figure repre- 
sents only one of the 
Fig: 303 eight white valves, all 
of which are wholly concealed under the hard, 
gritty, reddish-brown mantle. These single valves 
are found much more often than the complete ani- 
