62 LESSON XI. 



must give your steady attention to what I say, in 

 order that you may afterwards write down the 

 account from recollection. 



The animal inhabiting the shells belonging to 

 the genus Conus, breathes by means of gills ; it 

 has two tentacula bearing eyes, the mouth is a 

 long proboscis, and the foot is furnished with an 

 operculum, by which it closes the entrance to its 

 shell. The section of a Cone establishes a fact in 

 the natural history of its mollusk, which is highly 

 interesting. We find that the internal whorls are 

 of a much thinner substance than the external 

 coating ; and it is supposed from this that when 

 the animal by an addition to its shell, causes what 

 was its outer whorl to be surrounded and conceal- 

 ed by a new one, that it absorbs a portion of the 

 old whorl, making it much thinner, thus it 

 diminishes the weight of its shell, gives more 

 room within for its body, which is increased in size, 

 and at the same time preserves the solidity and 

 strength of its bulwarks. In this we see a beau- 

 tiful instance of the superintending providence of 

 God, who by the instinct he implants, directs the 

 habits of the animal kingdom. The shells of this 

 genus are remarkable for the regularity of their 

 form, the brilliancy of their colours, and the beau- 

 tiful variety and distinctness of their markings. 

 They are usually covered with a thick epidermis,* 



* Epidermis, an outer skin, from the Greek 7rt, (epi) upon 

 and, Sep/xa (derma) a skin. The children should see a 

 shell that is covered by an epidermis. 



