328 THE COMMON TOP. 



The shell is very small, about the size of a split sweet pea, and would escape the eye of 

 ordinary observers. The animal is furnished with short and diverging tentacles, the head is 

 divided into two lobes, and the eyes are placed in the centre behind the tentacles. 



THE INDIAN PHORUS, or MINERALOGIST, a name given to the creature in allusion to its 

 extraordinary habit of agglutinating bits of stones and other substances to its shell, has a 

 rather long proboscis, and long tentacles, with the eyes set at their outer bases. The foot is 

 long and narrow behind. 



The outer lip is very curious in its structure, being extremely thin, projecting above and 

 receding below. The operculum is horny, and formed by overlapping scales. The color of 

 the Indian Phorus is yellowish -brown above, and pearly-white within. The edges of the lip 

 are ragged and crumpled like those of a withered leaf. Sometimes it prefers other shells, 

 either in fragments or entire, and is then termed the CONOHOLOGIST. In one example shown 

 to me by Mr. Sowerby, the creature had selected a number of shells of a tiny bivalve, and had 

 stuck them round the edges of its own shell in such a manner that they form a spiral line, 

 marking the growth of the shell. One or two little bits of stone accompany them, and they 

 all lie with the hollow upwards. 



A MAGNIFICENT species is the SHELL-COLLECTING PHOKTTS. The long-pointed shells are 

 clubs, or cerithinse, a Venus-shell is seen at the mouth, and a lucina at the base. The name 

 Phorus is of Greek origin, and signifies a carrier. The movements of the Phorus are said to 

 be very clumsy, the animal staggering and tumbling about like the stromb-shells already 

 described. 



IN former days, the PHEASANT-SHELLS were articles of great price and rarity, some speci- 

 mens almost rivalling the precious wentletrap in the enormous sums asked and obtained for 

 them. Now, however, that their habitations have been discovered, and more frequent voyages 

 are made, they have become comparatively plentiful, although, from the fragility of their 

 structure, a perfect specimen is not at all common, and will still bring a good price in the 

 conchological market. 



The Pheasant-shells are now found in great numbers on the sandy beaches of several 

 shores, being especially plentiful on the coast of Port Western, in Bass's Straits. The high 

 tide sweeps them towards the shore, where they are left by the receding waters, and seek for 

 shelter beneath the masses of sea-weed that are always flung on the beach by the tide. On 

 lifting these sheltering weeds, the Pheasant-shells may be found crowded together under their 

 wet fronds. They can move with some speed, the duplicate nature of the foot aiding them 

 greatly in progression. 



WE now arrive at the TOP-SHELLS, or TURBINID/E, a rather large and important family. 

 In all these creatures the shell is spiral, and beautifully pearly in the interior, the nacre 

 appearing when the outer coating is removed. The animal has a short head, rather long 

 tentacles, with eyes mounted on footstalks at their base, and the head and sides are decorated 

 with fringed lobes. They are all inhabitants of the sea and are vegetarians in their diet, their 

 array of sharp teeth being very useful in rasping away the substances on which they feed. 



Order SCUTIBRANCHIA. The Top-shells, so called from their resemblance to a boy's top, 

 and the Neritas, of which the interesting Bleeding-tooth Shell is a representative, are mem- 

 bers of this order. An example of the singular distribution of animals was noticed by the 

 editor of this edition on one of the keys or islands of the Florida Reef. The beautiful 

 Bleeding-tooth Nerita was found in considerable numbers on one of the islands, and on no 

 other of the entire reef, along a series of islands one hundred and fifty miles in length. A 

 large Chiton was found on the same island, and in no other locality within the same range. 



The COMMON TOP is a little pointed shell. 



This shell is a most plentiful species, and may be found by hundreds either crawling 

 among the sea-weeds at low water, or flung upon the sands by the tide. The shell of this 



