320 THE VOICE OF A SUELL. 



hunderd cowries are reckoned equal to a rupee, so that a 

 cowry is equal to oiie-thirty-sixth of a farthing. Yet cow- 

 ries to the value of two hundred thousand rupees are said to- 

 have been imported annually into Bengal. Many tons of cow- 

 ries are annually imported into England to be used in trade 

 with Western Africa. Of the cowries a very remarkable 

 fact has been stated, that when the animals find their shells. 

 too small for the increased dimensions of their body, they 

 quit them and proceed to the formation of new ones of lar- 

 ger size, and, consequently, more adapted to their wants. 

 As soon as the cowry has abandoned its covering, the hinder 

 part of its body begins to furnish anew the shelly matter 

 which is afterwards condensed on its surface. This secre- 

 tion is continued until at length the shell appears of the 

 consistence of paper; and the mouth or opening of the shell, 

 which at this period is very wide, soon afterwards contracts 

 to its proper form and dimensions. The edges are thickened^ 

 and form into those beautiful folds or teeth which are so 

 remarkable on each side of the opening of these shells. 

 The porcelain and cowry-shells belong to a family which in- 

 cludes also the shells called Poached Eggs, and the Weaver's 

 Shuttle, remarkable for its prolongation at both ends. 



A well-known shell, distributed over the whole world, is 

 the Fusus (a spindle), so named from its shape. In Scotland 

 it is called the "roaring buckie," from the continuous sounds 

 as of waves breaking on the shore, heard when the empty 

 shell is applied to the ear, Wadsworth alludes to this 

 *' voice " of a shell in some sweet lines: 



" I have seen 

 A curious child, who dwelt upon a tract 

 Of inland ground, applying to his ear 

 The convolutions of a smooth-tipp'd shell, 

 To which, in silence hush'd, his very soul 

 Listen'd intensely, and his countenance soon 

 Brighten'd with joy; for murmurings from w'+^^'ri 



