> THE COWRIE. 279 



ESTHER. 



Yes; it is but an humble type of its more brilliant con- 

 geners of the tropics; for in shells the intensity of coloring 

 decreases as their locality approaches the poles, in the same 

 manner that vegetation is influenced by its proximity to the 

 tropics. The less a plant is exposed to the sun the paler its 

 colors, the fainter its smell, the weaker its flavor. Odori- 

 ferous herbs are found in the greatest perfection in those 

 countries where the sun-light is strongest, such as sweet 

 herbs in Barbary aud Palestine, and tobacco in Persia; and 

 the peach, the vine, and the melon, no where acquire such a 

 flavor as under the brilliant sun of Cashmere, Persia, Italy, 

 and Spain.* 



HENRIETTA. 



Is not this the money cowrie (Cypraea moneta), the current 

 money of Bengal, Siam, and Africa! 



ESTHER. 



It is. These shells are picked up by the negro women of 

 the Indian islands about the full of the moon, when these 

 animals are said to quit their retreats under the sea at some 

 distance from the shore, and traverse the rocks. Cyprsca 

 aurantia is worn in the Friendly Islands as a" mark of the 

 highest rank, and the African women make fringes of cowries 

 to ornament their dresses.f 



Cyprsea Moncta. 

 HENRIETTA. 



The colors of some of these species are beautiful, and the 

 regularity of their spots is most wonderful. 



*Lindley. 



t Mrs. Lee, in her interesting " Stories of Strange Lands.'* 



