80 UNIVALVES. — CONUS. 



CONUS.— Cone. 



Animal — a Limax: Shell univalve, co7ivolute, turbinate; 

 aperture effuse, longitudinal, linear, without teeth, entire 

 at the base; pillar smooth. 



OF this beautiful and valuable genus, only one hundred 

 and sixty-five are described as distinct species; but that 

 number is certainly less than the real amount. 



The Cones are very similar in form, their principal dif- 

 ferences consisting in the colouring, marking, and banding; 

 yet, form sometimes assists their arrangement into classes : 

 for instance, those which have a subtnmcated base, as the 

 C. marmoreus and C. imperialis, constitute one division. 

 Another division is formed of those species which are py- 

 riform and rounded at the base, and have a thick structure : 

 of these, the C. betulinus and C. glaucus may be adduced 

 as examples. The C. textile and C. aulicus are elongated 

 and rounded at the base, and are characteristic of the third 

 division : they somewhat resemble the C, tulipa, C. geogra- 

 phicus, and C. buUatus, but these are distinguished by hav- 

 ing a wider aperture, and being more inflated. 



Most of the Cones have a smooth surface, and bear a 

 high natural polish; but some, as the C. nussatella and C. 

 granulatus, are covered with granulated transverse striae, 

 and even globular tubercles. 



No other genus can vie with the Conus for the beauty 

 and diversity of the colouring and marking ; and none per- 

 haps holds so important a station in collections. The lines 

 on the C. literatus often resemble Hebrew, Greek, or Ara- 

 bic characters ; and the C. ebrgeus exhibits similar appear- 

 ances. In other species the colours are arranged into dif- 

 ferent shades of cloudings, veins, marblings, dots, stripes, 

 bands, or reticulations. 



