THE BAT VOLUTE. 



321 



TEXTILE CONE. G'<w us ttudilis. 



which a slight tint of brown can be observed in certain lights. The inside is porcelain-white, 

 and the average length is not quite two inches. 



THE next example, the LIGHTNING-COLORED SHELL, or DOVE SHELL, derives its popular 

 name from the peculiar appearance of its markings. This little shell is covered with zigzag 

 white streaks. 



ALL the Cones, Cone-shells, or Conida, a family so called on account of their form, have 

 a similar external outline ; the aperture is long and narrow, the head of the living animal is 

 .more or less lengthened, the foot is splay and abruptly cut off in front, the tentacles are rather 

 widely separate, and the eyes are placed upon these organs. 



The TEXTILE CONE-SHELL is found on the isle of Mauritius. This handsome species is 

 about four or five inches in length, and its markings are curiously disposed, so that it is 

 impossible to say which is the ground color. 



The dark, narrow, angular lines are dark < 



brown, accompanied by wliite, and varie- J5I *-i 



gated by dashes of yellow umber. The Sfe-*^ 



bold triangular spots are pure white, and 

 the inside of the shell is of the same color. 

 The figure shown in the illustration is of 

 natural size. 



The ADMIRAL CONE is peculiar for its 

 long and narrow aperture. This species, in 

 common with the other members of the 

 genus, haunts the fissures and holes in 

 rocks, and the warmer pools in coral reefs. 

 They all take a moderate range of depth, 



varying from one to forty fathoms. Though slow in their movements, they are extremely 

 voracious, their formidable teeth being well adapted for their predatory habits, and some- 

 times, it is said, being used effectively upon the hand of their captor. Conus aulicus 

 has a bad reputation for such conduct, rather unexpected on the part of a shell-bearing and 

 apparently helpless mollusk. 



THE BISHOP' 8 MITRE, a long, pointed shell with regular spiral markings, belongs to 

 another family, termed the Volutidse. In these shells the aperture is rather deeply notched 

 in front ; the animal has its siphon recurved, and the foot is very large, in some species partly 

 hiding the shell. The eyes are either placed upon the tentacles, or near their base. 



The shell of the Bishop's Mitre is spindle-shaped, long-spired, and stout in substance. 

 The proboscis is very long. This mollusk possesses, in common with many others of its class, 

 the capability of protecting itself when alarmed, by the sudden emission of a purplish liquid, 

 having to human nostrils a peculiarly nauseous odor. 



The Mitres, etc., are a very numerous genus, about three hundred and fifty living species 

 being known and named. All the large species inhabit the tropics ; and although there are 

 some which are found in cooler regions, they are of very small dimensions, and mostly frequent 

 the moderately shallow waters, though a few species are found at a depth of eighty fathoms. 



The color of the Bishop's Mitre is very pleasing, being pure, shining white on the back- 

 ground, and the spots being of a rich warm bay, the red predominating. 



OF the typical genus of the Volutidse, which contains about seventy species, and is spread 

 over most of the warm seas, we may describe the Musical and the Bat Volute. 



The BAT VOLUTE is remarkable, not only for the bold markings of the shell, but for its 

 own curious form. At each side of the large siphon may be seen a lobe projecting from its 

 base, and the eyes are set on lobes projecting from the base of the tentacles. When the tooth- 

 ribbon of the Volute is examined under the microscope, its armature is seen to consist of a 

 series of three-pointed teeth, forming a very powerful engine of destruction. 



Vol. HI.-41. 



