CONUS CONE. 67 



attributed to the object, exists in an inferior de- 

 gree. Examine the substance of the shell. 



Child. It is heavy and thick. 



Teacher. It is a ponderous shell ; now look 

 at the spire, and tell me what you remark in it. 



Child. It has little swellings placed regu- 

 larly at the edges of the whorls. 



Teacher. These swellings are called tuber- 

 cles, and a spire marked with such inequalities 

 is said to be coronated. 



Child. I suppose that means crowned. 



Teacher. Yes, the spire is so called from its 

 crown-like appearance ; do you observe any 

 other peculiarity in it ? 



Child. The whorls are concave, and in most 

 shells they are convex. 



Teacher. The whorls in this shell form a 

 little spiral channel, and are thence said to be 

 channelled. We will now write down the specific 

 character ; but I must inform you, that the 

 name marmoreus is derived from the Latin 

 marmor, marble ; and is applied to these shells 

 on account of their mottled appearance. 



CONUS Marmoreus* 



MARBLED CONE. 



Specific Character. Shell ponderous, smooth, 

 dark chesnut brown, with white sub triangular 

 spots ; spire coronated, whorls channelled ; size, 

 from two to three inches in length. 



* Plate II. fig. 1. 

 F 2 



