MOLLUSCA. 



Common Whelk. 



Common Cono. 



Royal Staircase Wentletrap. 



Sea Ear. 



Money Cowry 



The Royal Staircase Wentletrap affords us an excellent example of the Turbinidse. Jt is a native of 

 the Chinese and Indian seas, and was formerly so scarce that a specimen two inches in length would sell 

 for a hundred pounds sterling. Even now, a fine specimen cannot be obtained under six or seven pounds. 



As an example of the large family of Cones, we give the Common Cone, whose beautiful marbled color, 

 and elegant shape renders it a most attractive shell. 



The Cowries are not less celebrated for the elegance of their form, and the beauty of their markings, 

 than for the curious circumstance that one species is used as current coin in Guinea and Bengal, thus being 

 employed for the same purpose by two entirely distinct races of men, situated in different quarters of the 

 globe. Their value is of course small in proportion to gold or silver. At the present time a rupee in 

 Bengal is worth three thousand two hundred Cowries, the value of the rupee being two shillings three 

 pence, or about fifty cents. 



The Buccinidae are so named from their fancied resemblance to a trumpet. The Common Whelk is 

 every where abundant on the British Coasts, and is taken in such profusion that it is largely exported for 

 food, and may be seen on the street stalls of London exposed for sale, like the oyster and periwinkle. 



The proboscis of this creature is of a most singular structure, and by means of the numerous teeth with 

 which it is armed, it is able rapidly to bore its way through shells, and then to feed upon the unfortunate 

 inmate. The hermit crab often takes possession of the empty shells of the Whelk. 



The famous Tyrian purple was obtained from one of the Buccinidae, Purpura imbricata. 



In the Haliotis, a very extensive genus of Gasteropoda, the shell is slightly twisted, and from a faint 

 resemblance it is thought to bear to the ear of a quadruped, it has been called the Sea Ear. Some of the 

 species are very beautiful. 



Chiton, a Greek word signifying a shield, is applied to a family of the class Gasteropoda. The name is 

 an indication of the general form of the shell, which resembles a shield. They are closely allied to the 

 limpets. The species found in our northern seas are small, but within the tropics they attain a large size. 

 Their shell is composed of a number of plates, arranged behind one another with great regularity by a 



tihi/lM/A* 



Chiton Spinosus. 



(372) 



Chiton Mnenific 



